(ReliableNews.org) – One of the ways Hamas terrorists have been able to avoid detection by Israeli forces is by hiding in a vast underground network of tunnels. Those tunnels became targets of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in a string of recent airstrikes and ground attacks.
On October 27, the IDF reportedly targeted 150 underground tunnels. The Israeli military released a video of the airstrikes.
IDF says it struck some 150 underground Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip overnight. pic.twitter.com/sfSC0urYyI
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 28, 2023
The attacks came as the IDF prepared for a ground war against the terrorists. The military released another video showing the tunnels. A voiceover on the footage says there’s an “underground city” beneath Gaza that serves as a “complex labyrinth of terrorist infrastructure.” It goes on to say the “subterranean networks enable Hamas force” civilians to hide them.
Thousands of Israeli troops are amassing on the border of Gaza, a 140+-square-mile strip of land that has been cut off from the outside world. After Hamas murdered and kidnapped hundreds of Israelis, the IDF promised to completely eliminate the terrorist organization. To do that, the military will have to destroy those tunnels.
On October 31, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls for a ceasefire in Gaza after pressure from the US and other countries. The military also announced that it encountered Hamas terrorists in the tunnels below Gaza. The forces struck about 300 targets, including military compounds, rocket launch posts, and anti-tank missiles underground. While they were down there, militants responded to them with machine gun fire and anti-tank missiles.
Israel has been warning civilians in Gaza to evacuate for weeks while it prepares for a ground war. It’s not clear when the IDF plans to invade the area, but it expects the battle to be long and bloody. Hamas is suspected of holding many of the 200+ hostages in those tunnels. Since the beginning of the war on October 7, about 1,400 Israelis have been killed. More than 8,300 people in Gaza, including 3,457 minors, have died in Israeli strikes.
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