Israeli Army Reports Destruction of Hamas Militants' Tunnel in Northern Gaza

The Israeli army announced on Sunday that it has destroyed a tunnel created by Hamas militants in Gaza for infiltrating Israeli territory. This tunnel, located in northern Gaza near the Nahal Oz area, is the fifth tunnel dug by Palestinian militants that the Israeli army has destroyed in recent months. According to Colonel Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the Israeli army, this tunnel is adjacent to an area where Palestinian residents of Gaza have recently held protests known as the 'March of Return,' which Israel views as a cover for new attacks on its territory. The Associated Press noted that during the two weeks of protests organized by Hamas, 28 Palestinians were killed and over 1,500 were injured. The tunnel recently destroyed by the Israeli army has been described by the country's Defense Minister as the longest and deepest tunnel discovered to date. Avigdor Lieberman noted that the digging of this tunnel cost millions of dollars, money that could have been used to improve the difficult conditions of Gaza's residents, but instead has been buried in sand and dirt. He reminded the residents of Gaza that Hamas is burying their money in tunnels that lead nowhere. Hamas has not yet responded to the destruction of the new tunnel. According to the Israeli army spokesman, Hamas began constructing this tunnel after the 2014 conflicts, during which Hamas militants used such tunnels to infiltrate Israeli territory, making the prevention of threats from these tunnels a top priority for Israel. Since 2008, Hamas and Israel have had three military conflicts, and during the last conflict in 2014, Israel destroyed 32 tunnels dug by Hamas. Although at that time Hamas was unable to use these tunnels to access civilian areas, in one instance, an infiltration through these tunnels led to an attack that killed five Israeli soldiers and terrified local residents. Israel is creating underground barriers to identify such tunnels and prevent attacks planned through them, claiming that new technologies will render Hamas's tunnel construction projects ineffective.