(Times Of Israel) The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday revealed the largest-ever Hamas attack tunnel discovered by the military, in the northern Gaza Strip, close to the Erez border crossing with Israel.
The tunnel, of which around four kilometers (2.5 miles) were uncovered by the IDF, goes down some 50 meters (165 feet) underground in some areas and appears to be wide enough for vehicles to pass through. It did not enter Israeli territory.
One of the shafts was found just 400 meters (a quarter mile) from the Erez Crossing, which until Hamas’s October 7 onslaught facilitated the movement of Palestinian civilians into Israel for work and medical care.
The IDF said that over the last few weeks, the Combat Engineering Corps’ elite Yahalom unit and the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade used “advanced intelligence and technological means” to uncover the “strategic” tunnel network, scan it and clear it of any potential threats.
A map viewed by The Times of Israel showing the route of the tunnel has not been permitted for publication.
The tunnel has several branches and junctions, along with plumbing, electricity and communication lines, according to the IDF. In some parts of the tunnel, troops found blast doors, which the IDF said were intended to prevent Israeli troops from entering.
Soldiers stand in a large Hamas tunnel found near the Erez border crossing in the northern Gaza Strip, in a handout image published December 17, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
It said the tunnel allowed for the movement of vehicles, and “many weapons” belonging to Hamas were found inside.
“Its width indicates that it was intended to have been used for vehicle-borne raids against civilians in the Gaza border communities,” said the commander of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, Col. Haim Cohen, in a video statement.
Cohen said none of the branches entered Israeli territory.
During the ongoing fighting in Gaza, Hamas has carried out several attacks against troops from the tunnel network, according to the IDF. It added that several days ago, several Hamas gunmen were killed inside the tunnel.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tours a major Hamas tunnel in northern Gaza, in an image released by his office on December 17, 2023. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
The IDF said that the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza has provided “a lot of information about Hamas’s terror tunnels project.”
With the announcement, the IDF also published footage obtained from the Gaza Strip showing Hamas engineers constructing the tunnel. The footage showed members of the Palestinian terror group using specialized equipment to dig the tunnel.
According to the IDF, the construction of the tunnel involved a team of dozens of Hamas terrorists “who came especially for its construction from Khan Younis [in the southern Gaza Strip] to the north of the Gaza Strip.”
