Jerusalem: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had destroyed three tunnel shafts of Palestinian movement Hamas.
“The IDF located and destroyed three terror tunnel shafts belonging to the Hamas terror organization near the Rantisi Hospital and in the nearby High School; the tunnel shafts, dozens of meters deep, are connected by an underground network passing under the hospital and leading to the heart of Gaza City,” the IDF said on Telegram on Wednesday.
It said the tunnel also served as a command and control center for “conducting combat in the northern Gaza Strip and for carrying out terrorist attacks.”
On October 7, Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip while its fighters breached the border, opening fire on the military and civilians. As a result, over 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza and launched a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 21,100 people have been killed so far in Gaza as a result of Israeli strikes, local authorities said.
On November 24, Qatar mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas on a temporary truce and the exchange of some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire was extended several times and expired on December 1.
