IDF says massive north Gaza tunnel destroyed

The IDF announces that it has completed destroying and sealing Hamas’s largest-ever tunnel, which the military initially revealed in December.

In recent weeks, the IDF says, it worked to complete its investigation of the tunnel and then destroy it.

Parts of the tunnel were blown up by combat engineers, while the IDF and Defense Ministry pumped later concrete into the remaining underground passages.

The tunnel, of which around four kilometers (2.5 miles) was uncovered by the IDF, goes down some 50 meters (165 feet) underground in some areas and appeared to have been wide enough for vehicles to pass through. It did not enter Israeli territory, but officials described it as designed for use in offensive attacks rather than as a defensive position or for use in transporting officials.

One of the shafts was found just 400 meters (a quarter mile) from the Erez Crossing, which until Hamas’s October 7 onslaught facilitated the movement of Palestinian civilians into Israel for work and medical care.

“Its width indicates that it was intended to have been used for vehicle-borne raids against civilians in the Gaza border communities,” the commander of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, Col. Haim Cohen, said in a video statement in December.

The IDF said the tunnel project was led by Muhammad Sinwar, the commander of Hamas’s southern brigade, and brother of Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar.

In the December announcement, it released footage obtained from the Gaza Strip, showing Muhammad Sinwar in a car driving through the tunnel.

The IDF reveals footage obtained from the Gaza Strip showing senior Hamas commander Muhammed Sinwar, the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, in a car driving through the major tunnel revealed earlier today by the military. pic.twitter.com/PPr0jOSKSp

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 17, 2023