Channel 13 News published footage showing Hamas terrorists building a tunnel in plain view of IDF troops and the residents of the communities located near the Gaza border.
The video was taken in 2016 by journalist Almog Boker, and shows the construction of a tunnel 300 meters from Kibbutz Nir Am. A few months later, Hamas established a military post at the same spot.
Yesterday, the IDF published footage of the largest of Hamas's tunnels ever found so far, a construction project that was built under the leadership of Muhammad Sinwar in the north of Gaza.
The tunnel was discovered by the Yahalom combat engineering special unit, infantry units, other special forces, and engineering forces from the Gaza Brigade that have operated in the Gaza region over the past few weeks in a mission led by the northern division of the Gaza Brigade.
The operation was carried out with advanced intelligence and technological activities and led to the discovery, sweeping, and clearing of the strategic sections of the tunnel that do not cross into Israeli territory.
The IDF emphasized that the ground offensive, through field intelligence operations, provided extensive information about the project and the various tunnels used by Hamas, and aided in extending knowledge of the tunnels and mapping them out. Since the beginning of the war, the IDF has worked to locate the tunnels and destroy them, systematically targeting various tunnel segments that form Hamas's infrastructure.
The IDF undertook investigative activities in the tunnel and discovered more than four kilometers of tunnel, reaching up to a depth of fifty meters. The tunnel's closest exit to Israel is just four hundred meters from the Erez border crossing, which serves as an entry point for Palestinian labor, goods, and patients to Israel.
The tunnel has many branches and offshoots, which form a broad and interconnected network of tunnels. It includes a sewer system, electrical grid, telephone lines, and blast doors which were intended to prevent the IDF from entering. The tunnel is large enough to admit vehicles and includes significant quantities of Hamas munitions.
