“Rescue me, LORD, from evildoers; protect me from the violent, who devise evil plans in their hearts and stir up war every day.” (Psalm 140:1–2)
Israel’s military has uncovered yet another terrorist tunnel linking Gaza with Israel.
The tunnel is 1.7 kilometers long (just over a mile) and ends near Israeli civilian populations. It is the third tunnel discovered along the Gaza-Israel security fence in the past year.
The tunnel was built with materials sent by Israel to Gaza as humanitarian aid for civilian construction and fitted with its own electrical grid and telephone lines, suggesting that terrorists methodically misuse the construction materials Israel transfers into the Gaza Strip. (IDF)
An Israeli soldier investigates the Gazan terror tunnel that leads into Israeli civilian communities.
It is likely that the tunnel was created as a means to attack Israeli civilians or to kidnap Israeli soldiers who would be used to negotiate the release of Hamas prisoners.
Indeed, senior Hamas official Abu Marzouk responded to the discovery on his Facebook page, writing, “The tunnel which was revealed was extremely costly in terms of money, effort and blood. All of this is meaningless when it comes to freeing our heroic prisoners.”
Marzouk noted that the 2011 release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit resulted in the exchange of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, a strong incentive for further such attacks. (Times of Israel)
“The terrorist organization Hamas continues to prepare itself for a confrontation with the Israeli state, for terrorist activities, and feels that everything is possible—the truce was forced on them and exists principally because of IDF deterrence,” Israeli Defense Minister, Moshe Ya’alon said. (Arutz Sheva)
Gilad Shalit was abducted inside Israel in 2006 by Hamas militants via underground tunnels near the border with Gaza. Hamas held him for over five years. In the above photo, Shalit is welcomed home by his father (right).
