In the hours before the humanitarian ceasefire was to go into effect Thursday, the IDF discovered a Hamas cell infiltrating into Israel. Once they were discovered an IAF aircraft struck the terrorists killing a number of them and the tunnel.
MAP: Opening of a Hamas tunnel inside Israeli territory. Terrorists tried to use the tunnel to attack Israel today. pic.twitter.com/AruS3e1JTV
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) July 17, 2014
The Israeli military said it foiled a major attack from Gaza early Thursday when its forces identified approximately 13 militants emerging from an underground tunnel into Israeli territory not far from a kibbutz and attacked them from the air. …
The Hamas military wing claimed responsibility on its website for the infiltration, saying a group of its special forces had penetrated “enemy lines near Sufa” and came under fire from the air after the “completion of its mission,” without elaborating. Hamas claimed that all its fighters returned to Gaza safely. The Israeli military said the militants ran back toward the tunnel once they realized they had been exposed.
The Times of Israel quotes an army spokesperson:
The spokesperson described the attack as in line with a series of other thwarted attacks over the past 10 days of warfare, including two infiltration attempts from the sea near Kibbutz Zikim, a tunnel near Kerem Shalom, and a drone attack earlier this week
The IDF action that stopped the infiltration attempt before it was sprung “was obviously a huge success,” said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner.
PHOTO: Weapons of Hamas terrorists & the tunnel they used during their attempt to infiltrate Israel today. pic.twitter.com/J6RVEQ2SLB
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) July 17, 2014
Prior to launching Operation Protective Edge, the IDF struck a tunnel preventing “a major terror attack.”
Buzzfeed published a photo essay of a tunnel discovered in October 2013. A huge amount of resources and impressive technical skills are employed to build the tunnels.