The IDF destroyed three terror tunnels in the area of the Khan Yunis Brigade, the IDF reported Saturday.
While Gaza’s underground tunnel infrastructure has been a challenge for the IDF since the "Swords of Iron War" began, IDF soldiers, led by the 98th Division and the Yahalom Unit, have been operating to locate, map, and destroy Hamas’s Khan Yunis Brigade’s tunnels, the military stated.
The tunnels that were destroyed had been under IDF intelligence and technological surveillance in the last few years. Following preliminary ground activity, the tunnels were mapped and destroyed. In addition to the 98th Division and the Yahalom Unit, the Southern Command's Engineering Array and the Gaza Division carried out the operation.
One of the three tunnels was uncovered approximately a decade ago. In 2021, during the Guardian of the Walls operation, it had been struck from the air, resulting in the elimination of several Hamas terrorists.
At the beginning of the current war, it was struck at several points to prevent offensive activity, and over the last weeks, engineering forces destroyed it.
Another tunnel destroyed was revealed in 2014 as a terror tunnel crossing into Israeli territory. Hamas has not restored the tunnel since then, and in recent weeks, another section of the tunnel deep inside Gaza was destroyed, the IDF added.
Discovery of the third tunnel
The third tunnel that was destroyed in the last few weeks was discovered in 2019, before the construction of the underground barrier, when one branch of the tunnel crossed a few hundred meters into Israeli territory.
It has since been under full operational and intelligence control by the IDF. In this segment of the tunnel, IDF soldiers placed traps and sensors for the IDF to use, if needed, as part of the IDF's activity against Hamas’s underground tunnel network.
Since the beginning of the war, the tunnel has been struck numerous times, along with several other actions that prevented the part that crossed into Israeli territory from being used.
The tunnel was not used in the October 7 invasion and massacre, and the IDF has controlled the tunnel with surveillance and fire throughout the war.