Israeli Military Claims to Find Hamas's Biggest Tunnel: Capable of Passing Vehicles, 4 Kilometers Long

The large tunnel in Gaza that the Israeli military managed to find. (Source: Israel Defense Forces)

JAKARTA - The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claims to have found the largest tunnel belonging to the Hamas militant group, which is said to be capable of passing vehicles even though it does not penetrate into Israeli territory.

Stretching for about four kilometers, the tunnel is about 50 meters underground and wide enough for vehicles to pass through, equipped with electricity, ventilation and communications systems, the IDF said, as reported by CNN, December 17.

According to the IDF, the tunnel, which ends about 400 meters from the Erez crossing on the northern Israel-Gaza border, is part of Hamas' strategic infrastructure and will be destroyed.

In a video shared by the IDF, the Israeli military claimed the tunnel was created for the movement of Hamas troops and as a launching point for attacks.

Footage shared by the IDF and allegedly filmed by Hamas to show the construction of the tunnel, shows a large vehicle entering the tunnel and a makeshift train track inside.

In a statement Sunday, the IDF said the tunnel construction was commanded by Muhammad Sinwar, the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, although it did not provide evidence for this claim.

The large tunnel in Gaza that was discovered by the Israeli military. (Source: Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF said that over the past few weeks, the elite Yahalom unit of the Combat Engineering Corps and the Gaza Division's Northern Brigade used "advanced intelligence and technological means" to uncover a network of "strategic" tunnels, scanning and clearing them of any potential threats.

In some parts of the tunnel, troops discovered blast doors, which the IDF said were intended to prevent Israeli troops from entering.

"The width indicates that the vehicle was intended for use in vehicular attacks against civilians in Gaza border settlements," said Gaza Division Northern Brigade Commander Colonel Haim Cohen, in a video statement, quoted by The Times of Israel.

Cohen also said that none of the tunnel's branches entered Israeli territory.

On that occasion, the IDF also published footage obtained from the Gaza Strip showing Hamas engineers building the tunnel. The footage shows them using special equipment to dig tunnels, including tunnel-boring machines said to be smuggled into Gaza.

In a press conference Sunday evening, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the tunnel was "not an ordinary tunnel. It's a city. An underground city dug and built by Hamas instead of investing money in the people of Gaza."

"We will continue to uncover Hamas underground cities, soon we will uncover more cities that we will deal with, we will kill the militants (in them) and destroy them," he said, adding the IDF knows of at least three tunnels of the same size. in Gaza.

Last week, the IDF announced that soldiers had discovered more than 800 tunnels in the Gaza Strip since the start of a ground offensive targeting Hamas that began in late October. about 500 of them have been destroyed.

The IDF also claims to have successfully tested the pumping of sea water into the extensive tunnel network under Gaza.