Israeli forces in northern Gaza have made a startling discovery – a hidden Hamas tunnel concealed beneath a child’s bed. The soldiers, who were conducting a house search, made the alarming find and highlighted the disturbing reality of Hamas’s tactics. The Combat Engineering Corps’ 614th Battalion soldier revealed, “They use a children’s room to hide a tunnel, below a child’s bed… This is the reality.”
Hamas initiated the construction of this intricate underground network nearly twenty years ago. Initially, it served as a means to transport goods into the blockaded Gaza Strip, but it later evolved for military purposes. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers reported that the tunnel found beneath the child’s bedroom had two branches, one leading towards the coast and the other heading to Gaza City, where Israel alleges Hamas maintains an underground headquarters.
Lieutenant Colonel Adoniram, commander of the 614th Battalion, disclosed that the majority of discovered tunnels were situated within civilian sites. He stated, “We encounter a lot of weapons, a lot of tunnels. Here you saw one under a children’s room. We found them in playgrounds, we found them in kindergartens, and in mosques. Tomorrow morning, someone will say ‘Why did they attack a mosque?’ This is why.”
The Israeli military has no intentions of entering Hamas’s extensive tunnel network. Instead, they are demolishing the entrances as they uncover them. Since the commencement of the conflict, Israeli troops claim to have destroyed 130 tunnel entrances.
Last week, retired General Yair Golan emphasized that Israel would not send troops into the Hamas tunnels in and around Gaza under any circumstances. He warned that the sprawling tunnel network would serve as a “death trap” for IDF soldiers if they were to enter. Reserve Major General Golan explained, “The wisdom is to find the entrance and seal them, or send in smoke that will cause the enemy to come out and will harm them.”
The significance of this discovery underscores the escalating tensions and dangerous tactics employed by Hamas in the ongoing conflict. Israeli forces remain vigilant in their efforts to neutralize the threat posed by these clandestine tunnels.
