The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) revealed Sunday that it had discovered a massive tunnel complex built by Hamas just inside the Gaza border, 50 meters underground, wide enough to drive through at some points, and filled with weapons for attacking Israel.
The stunning find included a trove of intelligence materials, including videos — taken by Hamas itself — of the construction of the tunnel complex, which shows the massive amount of equipment and manpower devoted to the task, instead of Gaza’s own needs.
EXPOSED: The biggest Hamas terrorist tunnel discovered.
This massive tunnel system branches out and spans well over four kilometers (2.5 miles). Its entrance is located only 400 meters (1,310 feet) from the Erez Crossing—used by Gazans on a daily basis to enter Israel for work… pic.twitter.com/RcjK5LbvGL
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 17, 2023
The construction was reportedly overseen by Muhammad Sinwar, the brother of Gaza-based Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. One portion is near the Erez Crossing, which was used by Palestinian workers to enter Israel, and was attacked by Hamas October 7.
The horrors left by Hamas near and around the Erez Crossing.
LT Masha walks through the damage left by Hamas and a tunnel big enough to fit cars. pic.twitter.com/btGn3L3fpG
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 17, 2023
The IDF released a statement on Sunday:
The IDF exposed [a] Hamas subterranean tunnel system of attack tunnels built in the immediate vicinity of the Erez crossing. This massive tunnel system, splits into branches of tunnels, spans well over four kilometers (2.5 miles) and reaches only 400 meters (1,310 feet) from the Erez crossing. This subterranean tunnel system was a project led by Muhammad Sinwar, the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
…
“Hamas has persistently and deliberately invested enormous amounts of money and resources into terrorist tunnels that serve only one purpose – attacking the State of Israel and its residents. This strategic attack tunnel network, large enough to drive vehicles through, was spearheaded by Muhammad Sinwar and intentionally dug near a crossing dedicated to the movement of Gazans into Israel for work and medical care,” said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, the IDF International Spokesperson. “For Hamas, attacking the people of Israel continues to take priority over supporting the people of Gaza.”
IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari later added (via IDF translation):
So far, we have uncovered more than four kilometres of the tunnel route – a flagship project of Hamas. It reaches a depth of fifty meters underground. Inside the tunnels, we found many weapons. The tunnel did not cross into Israeli territory and was dug near the Erez Crossing, a place that enabled thousands of Palestinians to cross for employment and urgent medical treatment. On October 7th, Hamas chose to attack and massacre in it – at this crossing that was a symbol of hope for Palestinians. This was Hamas’s choice.
This is not a regular tunnel. It is a city. A city of terror underground that Hamas dug and built instead of investing money in the residents of Gaza. The exposed tunnel was used, among other things, for offensive operations against our forces in the Gaza Strip. A few days ago, terrorists in the tunnel were identified and eliminated by IDF troops. We have published photos of that elimination. We will continue to expose Hamas’s underground terror cities, and soon we will expose additional underground cities that we will handle, eliminate terrorists in, and destroy.
The IDF also found and released video footage of Muhammad Sinwar (at right) being driven through the Hamas tunnel:
תיעוד של מחמד סינוואר, מוביל פרויקט בניית המנהרה ואחיו של יחיא סינוואר, נוסע ברכב בתוך המנהרה. התיעוד נתפס במהלך הפעילות הקרקעית ברצועת עזה ועבר מיצוי מודיעיני באגף המודיעין: pic.twitter.com/ONL61qbclV
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 17, 2023
Earlier in the war, Hamas admitted it had not built any tunnels or underground shelters for Palestinian civilians — only itself.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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