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During their military operation in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces said they had exposed the Islamist Hamas’ largest tunnel system.

The military said Sunday that the facility was more than four kilometers long and about 50 meters deep and was located near the Erez border crossing between Israel and the closed coastal area. The Erez border crossing is located here:

This is what the end of the tunnel looks like near the Erez border crossing:

According to media reports, the tunnel route, which is about three meters wide, ends in Jabalia. The refugee district in the north of the Gaza Strip is considered a Hamas stronghold.

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The Israeli Defense Forces believe that Hamas' massive tunnel system under the Gaza Strip is also intended to carry out attacks on Israel. The facility is large enough to allow vehicles to pass through.

It must therefore be built of reinforced concrete and equipped with power supplies, ventilation and wastewater systems and communication networks.

Soldiers also found weapons in the tunnels. For example, anti-tank grenades were shown in a video. However, the information could not initially be independently verified.

According to the Israeli military, the Islamic organization has “invested enormous amounts of money and resources in terrorist tunnels.”

Army spokesman Daniel Hagari spoke of "millions of dollars" flowing into the "terrorist underground city."

According to the Israeli military, there is no evidence that any of the underground passages lead into Israeli territory. The tunnel system was built by Mohammed Sinwar, the brother of the head of the Islamic Organization in the Gaza Strip, Jihia Sinwar, the report said. The military also released videos and photos of its discovery, as well as footage of the construction of Hamas' tunnel network, as well as a clip that appears to show Mohammed Sinwar driving through the facility as a passenger in a car. The recordings could not initially be independently verified.

The Erez border crossing near the tunnel system was used for passenger traffic between Israel and the Gaza Strip before October 7. Terrorists from Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, destroyed the border crossing as part of their massacre of Israeli border towns. Israel responded to the brutal terrorist attack with massive airstrikes on the coastal area and launched a ground offensive there in late October. (sda/dpa/kaak)