Hamas spokesman: Israel has reached only a fraction of our tunnels
IDF forces continue operations in Gaza to find and destroy terror tunnels used by Hamas to infiltrate Israeli communities.
By JPOST.COM STAFFA Palestinian tunnel in Gaza. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Israel has reached "only a fraction" of Hamas's tunnels, Mushir al-Masri , a spokesman for the organization stated in an interview translated by MEMRI and made public on Monday.Masri was referring to the network of tunnels which Hamas has dug under the Gaza-Israel border in order to infiltrate Jewish communities and perpetuate terrorist attacks."We are convinced that our people are on the brink of liberation," Masri said.He continued by saying, "The Zionist enemy declared its ground war to destroy the tunnels but [we], the thousands of mujahideen from the al-Kassam Brigades (Hamas military wing) who dug these tunnels with their fingernails say that the Zionist enemy has reached only a fraction of these tunnels - [and we] will dig many more God willing."Regarding the heavy toll inflicted on Hamas and the Gaza Strip so far by the fighting, Masri claimed, "Even while the battle is being waged, the resistance is recuperating its military losses."According to an IDF source, Hamas built the network of tunnels that begin a few kilometers away from the Israeli border, and pass under the frontier, in a bid to enable dozens of terrorists to infiltrate the country.In response, the IDF has used a wide array of firepower and ground units to tackle the challenge of locating and destroying many terror tunnels.
“Hamas has turned tunneling into a national profession. They lean on highly skilled engineers to do this. We’re dealing with all of these threats through close-range combat,” the source added.
The IDF and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office have said that the purpose of Operation Protective Edge and the ground offensive in Gaza is to destroy terror tunnels and seriously harm the infrastructure of Hamas and other terrorist organizations in Gaza.Earlier in July, Hamas terrorists attempted a massive attack when 13 terrorists infiltrated into Israel through a tunnel near Kibbutz Sufa, but were discovered by the IDF and repelled or killed. The incident preempted the government's decision to send troops into Gaza and commence the ground incursion.Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.
