IDF forces discovered a kilometer-long tunnel that starts in the Gaza Strip and goes to the comprehensive fence around Kibbutz Ein ha-Shlosha. It is apparently intended to kidnap Israeli citizens or to activate explosive devises. According to one military official, “It was one of the most impressive and complex tunnels ever exposed.”
Oct 13, 2013, 02:00PM | Rachel Avraham
The IDF discovered last Tuesday a terror tunnel dug in the Southern Gaza Strip in the Palestinian Authority that led to the area of Kibbutz Ein Ha-Shlosha. The security system in the tunnel is appraised as one of the most sophisticated and long tunnels located in recent years, intended to implement the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers or to use explosive devices.
The IDF and the security establishment checked the tunnel, which turned out to go around three hundred meters inside Israel, in order to verify that the method it was established isn’t booby-trapped. During the weekend, there were forces in place to destroy it. The localization of the tunnel was made possible following IDF tracking sequences after Palestinian attempts to dig a tunnel to engage in smuggling into and out of Gaza.
"Identifying activities each day" Photo Credit: Reuters
In a conversation with Channel 2 News, a military source stated that this is not the only tunnel that was discovered recently and that terror organizations continue their efforts to try to infiltrate Israeli territory. “The kilometer long tunnel is one of the most impressive and complex tunnels ever exposed,” he said.
“The tunnel was exposed in time to prevent a disaster,” Haim Yalin, head of the Eshkol Regional Council, within whose jurisdiction the tunnel was discovered, stated. “The cooperation between the farmers that work the fields to the last furrow, and the IDF that defends us, has proven itself. We trust completely the IDF and their prepared squads that permit us to continue our routine lives.”
Major-General of the Southern Command: “Identifying activities each day”
“We identify that on the ground in Gaza itself, each day hundreds of people dig defensive and offensive tunnels,” Major General of the Southern Command Sammy Turgeman stated two weeks ago in an interview with Channel 2 News. “Hamas is an organization that presently finds itself in a corner and it needs to decide what it is facing. On the one hand, they suffered a severe blow in Operation Pillar of Defense, and on the other hand, they endured the disintegration of the radical axis between Iran, Hezbollah and Syria, and above all, the loss of strategic support with the fall of Morsi’s regime,” Major General Turgeman explained.
According to Turgeman, Israel is the main destination of the Gaza terror organizations’ operating under the umbrella of Hamas. He stressed that this is highly important for the ability of Hamas to control the Gaza Strip. “We need a mechanism that controls the security aspects inside Gaza. Hamas knows this. I don’t see an alternative to the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip,” Turgeman stated.
Destroying the tunnels Photo Credit: Channel 2
Last week: Incident at the Security Fence
Last week, the quiet along the Gaza border was broken. The Golani Brigade forces killed a Palestinian man and arrested an additional one. The two Palestinians were observed in the middle of the night by security forces when they approached the Security Barrier in Northern Gaza. The Israeli soldiers opened fire on the two, after following the proper procedures for suspected infiltrators.
The incident is being investigated by the Israeli Defense Ministry. Examinations carried out show that the two weren’t armed, but tried to illegally infiltrate into Israel. Following initial fears that the two attempted to harm Israeli soldiers, the local population was ordered to remain near bomb shelters.
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