The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) released a video showing its personnel inside a tunnel system discovered under a kindergarten in Gaza’s Rafah.
During precise operational activity, the Golani Brigade forces found a shaft in compound of a former kindergarten located around 100 metres from another compound that was a civilian school. The video shows two IDF personnel inside the tunnel, where they also find explosives. “This is just another example of how Hamas cynically exploits the Gazan civilian population,” a post on X read.
The explosive-rigged underground passage stretched dozens of meters and connected to a main Hamas route. Combat engineers from the Yahalom unit investigated the tunnel before it was demolished.
The recently-discovered tunnel is part of a network of tunnels that Hamas operates under Gaza, a reason Israel says is enough to continue its offensive in Palestine.
Hamas had said two years before the current conflict erupted that it had installed a network of more than 500 kilometers of tunnels, which is almost to half the length of the New York subway system. The tunnels have specialised sections for launching military attacks, as well as logistics areas, storage facilities and transportation routes, Reuters reported. Hamas has said it is using the tunnels, among other locations, to hide hostages seized in its October 7 attack on Israel.
In October last year, a video emerged showing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar moving his belongings to a tunnel in Gaza hours before the October 7 attack. The footage shows Sinwar and his wife and children moving belongings, including a television, water, pillows and mattresses, into the tunnel allegedly located in Khan Younis. Food, cash and documents were found in the underground compound, which had toilets, showers and a kitchen, according to the IDF.
