Troops of the 98th Division raided an underground tunnel located under the Bani Suheila cemetery in the heart of Khan Yunis, the IDF reported on Monday. While inspecting the tunnel, the fighters found explosives and sliding doors and eliminated terrorists who were inside.
Inside the tunnel, the Israeli forces unearthed the office of the eastern Battalion commander from the Khan Yunis Brigade, from where he directed the October 7 attacks, according to the IDF.
In addition, troops found operation rooms, a battalion combat war room, and bedrooms of senior officials of the Hamas terrorist organization.
Hamas reportedly used this tunnel to carry out their fight against Israeli forces above and underground.
The tunnel is part of an underground labyrinth dug by Hamas terrorists. It is about a kilometer long, some 20 meters deep, and contains several complexes. the IDF noted.
Tunnel destroyed by engineering forces
At the end of the examination, the tunnel was destroyed by engineering forces.
Lt.-Col. Barak, operation branch officer at the 98th Division, said of the find, “We are in the center of the town of Bani Suheila, here in the Gaza Strip, right below the cemetery of Bani Suheila, and we are actually standing at the entrance to a cynical Hamas tunnel, which we are going to enter, you pass under the entire cemetery complex.
"From here is a wide tunnel with rooms, with electricity and running water and all the enabling infrastructure. Behind me is a kitchen complex. The kitchen we are in includes all the appliances.
"We see a wide kitchen in which those cursed terrorists planned to stay during the fighting. This space under the cemetery, tens of meters underground, would have enabled them to live long-term here.
"We know now that in the Guardians of the Walls Operation, this is where the seniors sat and actually managed the fighting," he added.
"We arrived at this complex that is under the cemetery, the same cynical use of a tunnel under a cemetery, just like the same cynical use of tunnels and trapped compounds – in mosques, In schools, in kindergartens."