Israeli soldiers are reportedly in hot pursuit of Hamas’s leadership and the remaining Israeli hostages as they uncover a vast terror tunnel network in the heart of Khan Yunis, one of the last remaining terrorist strongholds in the south of Gaza.
The tunnel opening, discovered by the IDF special forces, “was connected to an extensive underground tunnel network beneath a civilian area in the city,” the military announced.
According to the UK newspaper Daily Mail, the “IDF special forces uncover[ed] major Hamas tunnel with suspected Hostage blood inside.” Around 129 Israeli hostages are believed to be in Hamas captivity since October 7. However, some Israeli estimates suggest that 23 of them may have since been killed by the terrorist group.
The ongoing IDF operation is focused on finding Hamas’s top Gaza-based leadership and liberating the hostages. “The IDF sees the Khan Yunis operations as closely tied to efforts to locate two of Hamas’s senior leaders in Gaza, Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar,” the Jerusalem Post reported. “According to some estimations, it is possible that Sinwar has surrounded himself with hostages, used as human shields, which would tie the mission to locate and kill Sinwar together with the IDF’s stated war goal of freeing the hostages.”
The tunnel system was “used by the terror organization to hold hostages under the city of Khan Yunis,” the Israeli military confirmed.
The IDF on Thursday revealed the details of the Hamas tunnel system in a press release:
In the past day, the IDF exposed a vast underground tunnel excavated by the Hamas terror organization under the city of Khan Yunis. The tunnel was located by the Commando Unit, the Yahalom Combat Engineering Unit and Special Forces. The tunnel was connected to an extensive underground tunnel network beneath a civilian area in the city. Millions of shekels are estimated to have been invested in excavating the tunnel and equipping it with air ventilation systems, electrical supply and plumbing. After investigating the tunnel, it can be confirmed that Israeli hostages had been inside the tunnel.The 98th Division is simultaneously fighting underground and above ground in urban areas in the city. Engineering forces, the Yahalom Unit, Commando and additional forces are leading the effort to locate tunnels, investigate and dismantle them with advanced technology and operational means. During underground combat, the forces located more than 300 tunnel shafts, some leading to significant tunnels, tactical shafts, and underground areas which are used as weapons storage facilities and combat areas.So far, more than one hundred tunnels were dismantled and decommissioned and in some tunnels, terrorists were also eliminated.
CNN’s Nic Robertson was the first international reporter to tour the Khan Younis tunnels. He “crawls over 60 feet underground to visit tunnels IDF says were used by Hamas,” the news network reported.
After having significantly destroyed Hamas’s strongholds in the north, the military is widening the ground offensive in central and southern Gaza, Israeli media reported.
“The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday reported expansion of the operation in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis “above and below the ground” as Israeli troops clash with terrorists and destroy over 100 tunnel shafts in the area,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS said. “The IDF says to have discovered a tunnel connected to the heart of the city’s civilians infrastructure where hostages had been held.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli security forces also struck at terrorist leadership in the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank.
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