The Israeli military has uncovered a cross-border tunnel from Gaza into Israel - the first uncovered since the 2014 war. Although Hamas implied it had built the tunnel, Israel downplayed the prospect of renewed conflict.
Israel uncovered a new Hamas-dug tunnel similar to this one, which was uncovered in October 2013Image: DAVID BUIMOVITCH/AFP/Getty Images
"We have neutralized the tunnel in Israeli territory, rendering it unusable for infiltration by Hamas terrorists," said military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner. He did not give further information on how exactly the tunnel was destroyed.
"It was built by Hamas in order to infiltrate and execute terror attacks against the people of the southern communities and (military) forces in that area," Lerner said. The tunnel, which was hundreds of meters long, reportedly included concrete slabs, "communication lines," ventilation and rails to cart away dirt from digging.
The military branch of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam, said the discovery was "only a drop in the ocean of what the resistance has prepared in order [to] defend our people, the freedom of the holy places and its land and captives."
In 2014, as part of a major military mobilization in Gaza, Israel destroyed some 30 tunnels dug by Hamas under the border. At the end of the conflict, Hamas vowed to rebuild its tunnel network.
With US help, Israel has stepped up work on technologies for spotting such underground passages. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu credited "a world-first breakthrough in tunnel-locating capabilities" for the find.
Despite the discovery, Israel said the existence of the tunnel does not necessarily mean a renewed conflict is looming.
"We do not seek conflict, but if Hamas tries to provoke the State of Israel and disrupt the lives of residents of the Gaza periphery communities, it will be dealt a very strong blow," Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said in a statement on Monday.
The Gaza war in the summer of 2014 killed more than 2,100 Palestinians. Gaza medical sources and UN officials say two-thirds of the casualties were civilians, a figure disputed by Israel, which lost 67 troops and six civilians in the fighting.
rs/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters)
Below Gaza
One of the main goals of Israel's ground offensive in Gaza is destroying the tunnels through which Hamas fighters make it to Israel. But the subterranean corridors have other purposes as well.
Image: picture alliance/landov
Lifeline and smugglers' pathway
Palestinians see them as Gaza's lifeline, Israelis as a dangerous thoroughfare for weapons and fighters: the several hundred, or maybe even thousand, tunnels that connect closed-off Gaza to the rest of the world. Even animals are taken through the corridors, which are often only waist-high.
Image: Getty Images
Prisoners in their own land
Roughly 1.8 million Palestinians live in Gaza. They are separated from neighboring Israel and Egypt by high walls and heavily fortified borders and are thus completely isolated. For a long time, the Rafah border crossing to Egypt was the only possible way to enter or exit the territory. But after Hamas rose to power in Gaza in June 2007, this has been closed as well.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Dangerous construction
Ever since then, the tunnels are the only connection to the outside world. They are often built with simple means like shovel and pickaxe and held up with wooden boards. Larger tunnels are wainscoted with concrete. For young Palestinians, the construction work is one of the few ways to make money - but deaths belowground occur again and again.
Image: Getty Images
Hidden entry
The tunnels' entry points are often hidden in regular houses, so that they can't be seen from the outside. Everyone who wants to use them has to pay for it, and the house owners get a part of the earnings. Israelis say that the money people in Gaza pay for the tunnels could be better used for other needs.
Image: Getty Images
Keeping supplies coming
The Palestinians use the tunnels to bring cement and other construction materials into the Gaza Strip to maintain and expand their infrastructure. Consumer goods like clothes and groceries travel through the corridors - as do rockets and explosives. Fighters even dig tunnels underneath Israeli military bases and blow them up from below.
Image: DW/T. Krämer
Grown with time
The tunnels have existed in Gaza for more than 30 years. After the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, the southern city of Rafah was divided: One half belonged to Egypt, the other to Gaza. Exchange between the two sides of the divided city was organized via tunnels. And with time, the illegal subterranean network was expanded.
Image: Getty Images
Protection from missiles
Today, even some of the simpler tunnels have sophisticated infrastructure. There's electricity and telephones, so the construction workers can keep in touch with the world aboveground. When the Israeli army attacks, the tunnels also function as shelters and hiding spots.
Image: Getty Images
Destruction from a third side
Israel is not the only state fighting the tunnels. Egypt also opposes them, because the Sinai Peninsula keeps seeing attacks which are allegedly carried out by Hamas. That's why the Egyptian army has destroyed tunnels on their territory for years. Even the Muslim Brotherhood government under now ousted President Morsi, which is politically close to Hamas, took actions against the tunnels.
Image: DW/S.Al Farra
Danger from below
Many tunnels are used for the sole purpose of killing Israeli soldiers. In the past, militants have dug tunnels underneath Israeli military bases and then blown them up. This picture, published by Hamas in 2004, shows the explosives used in December of that year to set off an underground explosion that killed five IDF soldiers and wounded 10 more.
Image: Getty Images
Minister underground
Moshe Yaalon, Israel's defense minister, visited a well developed tunnel leading from Gaza to Israel in 2013. According to Israel, the tunnel was used for attacks by Hamas and for kidnapping Israeli citizens.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Offensive continues
Israel claims to have discovered and destroyed several dozen tunnels since the start of the ground offensive in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disregarded international calls for a ceasefire and said the military offensive against Hamas would continue: "We won't end the mission before we have destroyed the tunnels."
