From the Liveblog of
Thursday, July 17, 2014
‘Land operation needed to take out tunnels’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleIDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and GOC Southern Command Shlomo Turgeman recommended to the prime minister and defense minister that they give the go ahead for the ground offensive, Channel 10 reports.
Israeli media has been speculating that a land operation would be necessary to take out Gaza’s large network of tunnels, which are used to smuggle arms and carry out attacks against Israel.
Earlier Thursday, Israeli forces managed to thwart a terror attack when they bombed a group of 13 Hamas commandos who emerged armed from a tunnel near Kibbutz Sufa.
Israeli forces have discovered and attempted to blow up a number of tunnels over the past several years, including some that reach dozens of meters underground.
Military sources say it is impossible to neutralize the tunnels via air attacks.
The Times of Israel Community.