A Hamas tunnel discovered snaking into Israeli territory is only “a drop in a sea” of what the terrorist group has prepared against the Jewish state, according to an official statement from Hamas’s so-called military wing.
The statement, posted on the website of Hamas’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, reads:
“What was published by the enemy is only a small part, a drop in a sea of what the resistance has prepared in order to defend its people, its land, its holy sites and its prisoners.”
Hamas claimed that when the Israel Defense Forces published details of the tunnel on Monday, the IDF “did not dare to reveal to its people all the truth and all the details.”
Hamas claimed it retains “the right to ourselves to publish at the suitable moment all the details that the occupation (Israel) did not publish.”
Haaretz reported on Monday:
The Israeli military has uncovered a Hamas tunnel that crosses from Gaza into Israeli territory. This is the first such tunnel to be discovered since the 2014 Gaza war.
According to information released for publication on Monday, the tunnel was found 10 days ago during an Israel Defense Forces operation. Since its discovery, the military has destroyed the tunnel’s openings on both sides of the border fence. According to a senior defense official, tunnel openings were found in Israeli territory between the border fence and military bases and towns.
Ynet news further reported:
According to the security establishment’s estimates, the tunnel is designated for a strategic attack by dozens of Hamas fighters of their elite unit – “Nukhba.”
… Hamas’s excavation of this tunnel appears to be have been done relatively fast compared to those dug in the years prior to Operation Protective Edge, pointing to their having learned lessons and invested an unprecedented amount of money – in the millions of shekels – in the project. Even the depth of the tunnel, about 30 meters, is considered unusual. Nevertheless, in other respects, it is the same type of tunnel discovered before and during Operation Protective Edge – reinforced walls, digging pathways, branches and inner depth.
The IDF did not discover weapons inside the tunnel and Hamas reportedly realized its tunnel was discovered at about the same time the IDF found the tunnel opening in Israeli territory. Yet Hamas did not immediately use the tunnel to carry out an attack before the IDF could quickly react, further indicating that the tunnel is part Hamas’s preparations for a future battle and was not meant for an imminent terrorist attack.
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