GAZA-ISRAEL BORDER—Israeli soldiers fighting Hamas claimed they discovered an unusually big concrete and iron-girded tunnel meant to transport carloads of terrorists from Gaza all the way to the border.
Among the goals of Israel's attack begun after Hamas terrorists went on a killing and abduction rampage in its southern cities and army posts on Oct. 7 is to destroy or disable hundreds of kilometers of underground routes and bunkers.
The Erez border crossing between Gaza and Israel was among the places overrun by Hamas in that onslaught. The military showed reporters the egress point of what it claimed was a landmark Hamas project just 100 meters (yards) south of the checkpoint, hidden under a sand dune.
The tunnel descended diagonally to a depth of 50 meters, when it extended to a reasonably large 3 meters (10 feet) in height and breadth, complete with electrical fittings.
The complete length of the tunnel, according to Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, is 4 kilometers (2.5 miles)—enough to reach northern Gaza City, once the hub of Hamas authority and now a destroyed fighting zone.
It was "the largest tunnel we discovered in Gaza... meant to target the [Erez] crossing," Hagari claimed, without saying if Hamas utilized it in the Oct. 7 attack.
“Millions of dollars were invested in this tunnel. It took years to build this tunnel … Vehicles could drive through.”
Hamas did not react to a request for comment on the Israeli story from Reuters.
Tunnels displayed to the media by the organization or by the Israeli military after their discovery have often been tiny and low, suited for single-file transit of terrorists on foot. Hagari's tunnel had shafts falling vertically downhill, suggesting it was part of a larger network, he claimed.
The tunnels have been difficult for Israeli engineers, who are concerned that the networks may be used to conceal captives held by Hamas terrorists.
Hagari showed reporters a video of Mohammed Sinwar, the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and a top agent in the group, seated in the passenger seat of a car he claimed was traveling through the tunnel.
According to the Israeli news site Ynet, forces killed several militants who stormed Erez after entering the region through a tunnel on October 29. The office of Hagari did not react to a question about whether that pertained to the tunnel he displayed.
