The Israeli Army announced that it had recently found a long tunnel in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, where it claimed that Israeli prisoners were being held in the hands of Hamas. Images of the underground network, which was destroyed, were released this Sunday.
“Soldiers from the 98th Division operated in an underground tunnel in Khan Yunis, which held hostages and was 830 meters long and 20 meters deep,” an Israeli military spokesman said in a statement, as the army offensive continued. in the Palestinian enclave on the 107th day of war. According to the spokesperson, access to the tunnel “was full of explosive traps and inside there were many obstacles, explosives, sliding doors and armored doors”.
When the soldiers advanced through the tunnel, they encountered several terrorists, whom they confronted and eliminated, while the hostages had already been transferred to another location. Furthermore, the Army detailed that in the underground network there was a central room, where hostages were held, in addition to five cells with bars, where troops located evidence of the presence of hostages, intelligence information and Hamas traps. “According to testimonies, there were around 20 hostages in the tunnel at different times”, some of whom have already been released and others remain detained in Gaza, highlighted the military spokesman.
Also according to this source, the underground network – which constituted a branched structure – was “in the heart of a civilian area in Khan Younis”, where the Army continues to operate on the ground. The access to the tunnel was located at the residence of a Hamas member and, after inspection by Israeli troops, the infrastructure was destroyed, the Army added.
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