From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
IDF demolishes Hamas attack tunnel used in attempted infiltration from Rafah
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The IDF says it has completed the demolition of a Hamas attack tunnel from which terrorists attempted to infiltrate into Israel last month.
Four Hamas terrorists used the tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah to approach the Israeli border in the attempted infiltration attack on June 6. The shaft they emerged from was about 200 meters from the border, according to the IDF.
In an exchange of fire with the gunmen, Warrant Officer Zeed Mazarib, 34, was killed. Three of the four armed terrorists were killed in a drone strike and tank shelling, while the fourth fled.
The tunnel was destroyed in a joint operation carried out by combat engineers with the Gaza Division, the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit, and the Bedouin reconnaissance unit, of which Mazarib was a member.
According to the IDF, the tunnel was part of a 3-kilometer-long tunnel network that had previously been partially destroyed by the military.
Inside the tunnel, troops found several branching paths, blast doors, and a room where Hamas operatives would reside, complete with electricity lines, the IDF adds.
The Times of Israel Community.