Since the beginning of the "Swords of Iron" war, the IDF has been operating against the underground infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
In recent months, IDF soldiers led by the 98th Division and the Yahalom Unit have been operating to locate, map and destroy the tunnels of Hamas’ Khan Yunis Brigade. During the activity, three offensive terror tunnels, that were under intelligence and technological surveillance by the IDF over recent years, were located.
Following preliminary ground activity they were mapped and destroyed. The operation was carried out by the Southern Command's Engineering Array, the Gaza Division, the 98th Division and the Yahalom Unit.
One of the tunnels was uncovered about a decade ago, and in 2021 during the "Guardian of the Walls" operation it was struck from the air, resulting in the elimination of several Hamas terrorists. At the beginning of the current war it was struck at several points to prevent offensive activity, and over the last weeks it was destroyed by engineering forces.
Another tunnel was uncovered in 2014 as a terror tunnel crossing into Israeli territory and was destroyed. The Hamas terrorist organization did not restore the tunnel since then, and in recent weeks another section of the tunnel deep inside the Gaza Strip, was destroyed.
The third tunnel that was destroyed in the last few weeks was uncovered in 2019, before the construction of the underground barrier, when one branch of the tunnel crossed a few hundred meters into Israeli territory. It has since been under full operational and intelligence control by the IDF. In this branch of the tunnel, IDF soldiers placed traps and sensors for the IDF to use if needed, as part of the IDF's activity against the Hamas terrorist organization’s underground network of tunnels.
Since the beginning of the war, the tunnel has been struck numerous times, along with several other actions that neutralized the branch of the tunnel that crossed into Israeli territory. The tunnel was not utilized for the brutal massacre of October 7th and has been controlled with surveillance and fire throughout the war.
"The IDF will continue to work to destroy all the tunnels in the Gaza Strip and destroy the capabilities of all the terrorist organizations, with Hamas at their head, to harm the civilians of the State of Israel," the IDF promised.