On the 72nd day of the war against Hamas, the Israeli army promised Sunday, December 18, 2023. “Plus Grand Tunnel” A Palestinian Islamist group in the besieged Gaza Strip has continued its deadly strikes despite calls for a ceasefire, reports said.AFP.
Over four kilometers, close to the Erez crossing
C Tunnel, “It splits into several branches and stretches for more than four kilometers, arriving only 400 meters from the Erez crossing”between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip, the Israeli armed forces said.
read more: Israel-Hamas war. New Initiative at Security Council, Tunneling… Latest News
“Hamas has continued to deliberately invest vast amounts of money and resources into terrorist tunnels that have only one goal: to attack Israel and its residents.”An Israeli army spokesman, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, condemned the attack.
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“This strategic network of attack tunnels […] It was deliberately dug near an intersection intended to allow Gazans to travel to Israel for work and medical care.he added.
It costs millions of euros, reinforced concrete walls
A journalist noted that the tunnel discovered by the military was equipped with pipes, electricity, ventilation, sewers, communication networks and rails.AFP Who managed to get there. Its size will allow the passage of small vehicles.
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Israeli forces say it is under the direction of Mohamed Shinowar, the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Shinowar, who is believed to be the architect of the October 7 attack, costing millions of euros.
read more: “Extremist”, “Face of the Devil”… Who is Yahya Shinuwar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip?
The floor is compacted earth, the walls are reinforced concrete and the entrance is a metal cylinder, the walls of which are 1.5 centimeters thick.
Plenty of weapons on site
According to the Jewish state, a large amount of weapons were found at the site, ready to be used during an attack by Hamas.
read more: “Gaza Metro”, an underground stronghold of Palestinian militants and a secret weapon of Hamas
The latter’s neutralization of tunnels is one of its operational priorities. The Institute of Modern Warfare at the US Military Academy West Point estimates that the Palestinian enclave would be dug over 500 kilometers by 1,300 galleries. The Israeli military nicknames these galleries “Gaza Metro”.
The Israeli military noted in early December that it had found more than 800 tunnels, 500 of which had been destroyed.