TEL AVIV – The IDF is gearing up to defend against a multi-pronged attack whereby Hamas militants will emerge simultaneously from underground tunnels into Israel, Arutz Sheva reported.
A military source said the army was preparing for a range of attacks, the most extreme being a “surprise attack by about 100 Hamas men coming out of several terror tunnels simultaneously.”
“We are preparing for this all the time and putting our greatest efforts into it,” he said.
Hamas has three regiments in Gaza that are facing Israel, the source claimed. One in the northern part of the Strip, another in the refugee camps in the center, and the third in Rafah on the Egyptian border.
“These regiments are organized and operate as military organizations,” he said.
“They have a methodology of war, they have a well-organized control and command structure, and they are preparing all the time for a surprise attack like the one in Operation Protective Edge, only bigger.”
The military source said that one of Hamas’ core ambitions is to transfer the fighting onto Israeli territory.
“Once it is able to do this, it will – but this will not happen soon,” he predicted.
The Hamas regiment in Rafah has used the nearby border crossing to smuggle weapons. A terror attack in the neighboring Sinai Peninsula led to the Rafah border’s closure more than two years ago.
The border crossing has been reopened at times, most recently earlier this month. But after it was closed again, Gaza’s Deputy Minister of the Interior Kamel Abu Madi blamed the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, saying the PA was working with Egyptian authorities to ensure the Rafah border crossing would remain closed.