IDF destroys massive, multi-level tunnel network beneath Gaza City

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The various floors of the underground structure were used for storage, hideouts, command and control, and to facilitate movement of terrorists between different locations in the area.

The IDF destroyed a Hamas tunnel network in southern Gaza City’s Issa district during operational activity in the area over the last few weeks, the IDF said on Friday.

The demolished tunnel network served as a subterranean post for the Gaza-based Islamist terror organization, the IDF added. Other buildings being used as Hamas headquarters were also reportedly destroyed.

The news comes a day after the IDF announced the troops from the Yahalom special operations unit of the IDF’s Combat Engineering Corps, along with the 401st Brigade combat team, destroyed an extensive tunnel network used by senior Hamas leadership beneath Gaza City’s Shejaia neighborhood.

As part of the Israeli forces hitting Hamas in the south of Gaza City, the Yiftah Battalion, along with combat engineering forces, targeted the Hamas headquarters in the area.

During their raid on the infrastructure, the IDF troops observed a terrorist squad attempting to launch an attack on the Israeli soldiers. The troops subsequently engaged and successfully eliminated the terrorists in close-quarters combat, the IDF continued.

Throughout the operational activity, the IDF also reported that many other terrorists, buildings used for terror activities, and weapons were destroyed.

Concurrently, troops of the IDF Paratroopers Brigade operating in the Issa area uncovered a number of shafts descending into the since-razed underground tunnel network.

Examination reveals the massive extent of the subterranean tunnel network

Additional troops from Yahalom and the Oketz K-9 Unit assessed the tunnel complex beneath what the IDF has dubbed the “Issa” post, revealing a multi-level subterranean structure.

The IDF noted that the various floors of the structure were used for storage, hideouts, command and control, and to facilitate the movement of terrorists between different locations in that area of the Gaza City.

Subsequently, after employing a variety of technological capabilities with the aid of 99th Division’s combat engineering forces to further investigate the tunnel system, the troops destroyed it, the IDF said.

The tunnel network, which was reportedly hundreds of meters long, was documented with footage obtained by the Marom Brigade’s Oketz K-9 Unit’s dog cameras.

Dogs are regularly used by the IDF to act as the head of an advancing force. Earlier this week, Golani forces sent a camera-equipped dog ahead of them into a suspicious area. The dog was subsequently shot by Hamas terrorists.

The footage, which has been released by the IDF, recorded the terror infrastructure located in the tunnels.

The facilities were equipped with concrete bunkers, water, and electricity.

The K-9 units and their dogs have been active since the start of the war gathering intelligence that allows soldiers to enter Gaza’s various tunnel networks.