BICOM

Israel’s security forces yesterday revealed that they last week discovered a huge, advanced and fortified tunnel which traversed beneath the Gaza border several hundred metres into Israel.

The tunnel originated from a home in Khan Younis in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and is 1.7 kilometres long. According to Israeli army officials, the tunnel reaches as deep as twenty two metres, includes an electrical system, a phone line and although incomplete, utilised 25,000 concrete slabs in a project which had taken an estimated eighteen months.

This was the third such tunnel discovered this year, but the IDF said that it was the most advanced to date. Head of IDF Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Sami Turgeman said that the tunnel could have been used to carry out a kidnapping, bombing attack or a murder spree in nearby communities. In 2006, terrorists used a tunnel to launch an attack and kidnap Israeli serviceman Gilad Schalit, who was subsequently held captive in Gaza for five years. Turgeman said that Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since violently overthrowing the Fatah faction in 2007 has “invested tens of millions of dollars into constructing this [tunnel]… Instead of investing in schools, or civilian industry and employment, Hamas invests in terror.”

Addressing his cabinet yesterday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised his government’s “aggressive policy against terrorism” which helped uncover the tunnel, but cautioned that although “this year has been the quietest in over a decade… we have witnessed an increase in terrorist actions in recent weeks.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon announced that the supply of building materials for private projects in Gaza would once again be frozen following the discovery of the “terror tunnel”. Just last month, Israel eased restrictions on importing materials including cement and iron, following six years in which Israel curbed such imports for fear that they would be used by Hamas to strengthen its military capability.