DUBAI – The Israeli military said on Sunday it had destroyed a cross-borderattack tunnel that ran from Gaza into Israel and Egypt, dug by the Hamas,the Islamist group that controls the Palestinian enclave.
Residents in Gaza said Israeli jets bombed an area east of the southerntown of Rafah, by the Egyptian and Israeli borders, late on Saturday night.Israel confirmed the attack immediately after, but gave no details untilSunday. There was no immediate comment from Hamas or Egypt, or any reportsof casualties.
Tensions have risen since President Donald Trump reversed decades of USpolicy on Dec. 6 by recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Gazamilitants have launched 18 cross-border rockets or mortar bombs, causing nofatalities or serious injuries in Israel, and 15 protesters and two gunmenhave been killed by Israeli fire.
The attacks from Gaza, which Israel has blamed on groups not affiliatedwith Hamas, have drawn Israeli air strikes, usually on targets that havebeen evacuated.
“There are those who say the Israeli military attacks sand dunes – that isincorrect,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing criticism fromlawmakers who have called for a stronger armed response, told reportersafter the tunnel was targeted.
Netanyahu cautioned Hamas that Israel “will respond with even greaterforce” if rocket strikes continue. Israel has said Hamas, as the dominantforce in Gaza, bears overall responsibility for any attacks from theenclave. But Yoav Galant, a member of Netanyahu’s security cabinet, said onArmy Radio that Israel is “not looking for confrontation with Hamas”.Nonetheless, he said Israel “could not abide by a situation in whichIsraelis are harmed by fire (from Gaza)”.
Colonel Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, described thetarget hit on Saturday as 1.5 km (one mile)-lone “terror tunnel” runningthe Kerem Shalom border crossing into Israel, and into Egypt. “It couldalso have served to transfer terrorists from the Gaza Strip into Egypt inorder to attack Israeli targets from Egypt,” he said.
Kerem Shalom, the main passage point for goods entering Gaza, was shut downon Saturday before the Israeli attack. Underground tunnels are used tosmuggle in all manner of commerical goods to Gaza, and to bring in weaponsfor militants from Hamas and other groups. They have also been used byHamas to launch attacks inside Israel.
During the last Gaza war, in 2014, Hamas fighters used dozens of tunnels toblindside Israel’s superior forces. The Israeli military said it hasdestroyed three tunnels in the past two months. Israel has beenconstructing a sensor-equipped underground wall along the 60-km (36-mile)Gaza border, aiming to complete the $1.1 billion project by mid-2019. -Agencies