IDF Hits Hamas Tunnels In Massive Strikes On Gaza

IDF hits Hamas tunnels in massive strikes on Gaza as ceasefire pressure mounts

JACOB MAGID and TOI STAFF

Israeli warplanes unleashed a new series of heavy airstrikes at several locations in the Gaza Strip early Monday, as the US said all sides in the Israel-Hamas fighting must de-escalate, and the violence “must end immediately.”

Explosions rocked Gaza City from north to south in an attack that was heavier, on a wider area and lasted longer than a series of air raids 24 hours earlier in which 42 Palestinians were killed — the deadliest single attack in the latest round of violence between Israel and the Hamas terror group that rules Gaza. The earlier Israeli airstrikes flattened three buildings.

Residents of Gaza described the overnight Israeli barrage as the heaviest since the fighting in the Hamas-ruled enclave began a week ago. The strikes caused widespread power cuts and damaged hundreds of buildings, authorities in Gaza said. Hours after the strikes, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza reported another fatality in the week-long flareup.

A three-story building in Gaza City was heavily damaged, but residents said the military warned them 10 minutes before the strike and everyone cleared out. They said many of the airstrikes hit nearby farmland.

Local media reports said the main coastal road west of Gaza City, security compounds and open spaces were hit in the latest raids. The power distribution company said airstrikes damaged a line feeding electricity from the only power plant to large parts of southern Gaza City.

The Israel Defense Forces said the strikes targeted Hamas’s subterranean tunnel system in northern Gaza.

The IDF has dubbed Hamas’s series of underground tunnels “the metro.” It described the passages hit over night as the “C” line.

“As part of the attack, some 35 terror targets were attacked in a time period of around 20 minutes,” a statement from the military said.

It also said the attack included 54 fighter planes that dropped some 110 precision munitions, striking 15 kilometers (over 9 miles) of tunnels.

“This attack was part of a broad operation by the IDF to significantly damage the underground system of terror organizations in Gaza,” the IDF said

The IDF said it also struck a Hamas-dug tunnel shaft located near a kindergarten and mosque in southern Gaza.

The location of the site “proves once again how the Hamas terror organization deliberately places its military assets in the heart of civilian populations,” the military said.

It added: “The IDF takes as many precautionary measures as possible to reduce possible harm to civilians during its military activities.”

Initially, the military said it was carrying out “widespread strikes.” Among the other targets it reported striking overnight were the homes of nine Hamas commanders throughout the Gaza Strip.

The targeted houses included the homes of Hamas’s Beit Hanoun brigade commander, the Beit Hanoun company commander, the Gaza City company commander and the al-Shati brigade company commander, the IDF said.

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