Israel finds Gaza-Egypt tunnel large enough drive through
Israel discovered a three-metre tall smuggling tunnel on the Gaza-Egypt border, large enough to drive vehicles through, the Israel Defence Forces said on Sunday.
A smuggling tunnel between Gaza and the Egyptian Sinai discovered by Israeli combat engineers in a photo released on Aug. 4, 2024. Photo by IDF Spokesperson
The army has uncovered dozens of other tunnels in the area of the Egyptian border, but did not specify if they were connected to the cross-border route.
The tunnels were uncovered by combat engineers in the army’s elite Yahalom unit as part of Israel’s efforts to cut off weapons smuggling from Egypt to Hamas and other Gaza terror groups.
The Philadelphi corridor is a buffer zone that runs the length of the 14-km Gaza-Egypt border. It was created in 2006 to prevent weapons smuggling after Israel disengaged from the Strip. Hamas violently seized control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority the following year.
According to the IDF, forces are investigating the tunnels, after which they will be destroyed.
“The IDF will thoroughly destroy all underground infrastructure in the Philadelphi area and will act resolutely to prevent their formation in the future,” the army said.
Securing the Philadelphi corridor and destroying smuggling tunnels there is a critical goal to prevent Hamas from rearming and to curtail its leaders from escaping into the Sinai with Israeli hostages.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 115 remaining hostages, 39 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
