Hamas unveils ‘new tunnel’ it says reaches into Israel

Hamas has built a new fortified tunnel that reaches into Israeli territory, according to members of the terror group who spoke to an Iranian TV channel Sunday.

The attack tunnel is said to be 3.5 kilometers long and will be used in the “next round” of violence with Israel, masked Hamas operatives told Al-Alam, Iran’s Arabic-language channel.

From the footage aired on the news network, it was not clear if the tunnel was in fact new or if the segment inside the tunnel was filmed before the 50-day conflict last summer and repackaged.

Israel destroyed at least two dozen tunnels used by Hamas and other Gaza-based terror groups during the operation. Some were used to devastating effect to ambush and kill IDF soldiers in the course of the war.

The Times of Israel’s Avi Issacharoff reported Sunday that Hamas has been deploying troops on the border with Israel.

Hamas’s military wing has been conducting infantry and urban warfare exercises at the levels of platoon, company and even division, according to the report.

Palestinian terrorists from the Izz ad-dine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, patrol an area near the Israeli border with Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on June 3, 2015 (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)