The Israeli military has once again demolished an “attack tunnel” that was dug by the Islamist Hamas organization, with the aim of conducting cross-border attacks against the southern communities of the Jewish state. An Israeli military statement noted that the tunnel was previously demolished during the 2014 Gaza war, but after Hamas had tried to put it back into operation, establishing a new digging point several hundreds of meters in the Palestinian enclave away from the security fence with Israel, the IDF was forced to destroy the tunnel once again. IDF spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Concricus revealed that the Israeli forces did not cross the border to render the tunnel inoperable but used a new technique, in which it was filled with a certain material. In response, the Islamist Hamas organization, which controls the Gaza Strip, has rejected the Israeli military’s claim of demolishing an operational tunnel, labelling the statement as an IDF attempt to “market fake achievements” with the aim of boosting morale. “The Israeli occupation is marketing fake achievements to keep the good spirit among its settlers, soldiers and the collapsing leadership, amid Palestinian steadfastness and the resistance which exceeded all Israeli expectations,” Hamas Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.
