IDF Destroys Transportation Rail Terror Tunnel in Northern Gaza

Latest Developments

Israeli troops located and destroyed a terror tunnel containing “electrical infrastructure and a transportation rail within the tunnel route,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on September 3. The tunnel was over one kilometer long and was discovered in northern Gaza near Beit Lahia. “Inside the tunnel, we found infrastructure that [was evidence] that the route was used by Hamas in order to carry out terror activities against our troops,” an engineering officer of the Northern Gaza Brigade noted, according to The Jerusalem Post. The IDF later released footage of its combat engineers destroying the tunnel. Hamas built hundreds of miles of tunnels under Gaza — which the IDF has targeted during the 11-month-old war — to enable the smuggling of weapons and materiel. Recent IDF operations have focused on tunnel infrastructure in central and southern Gaza, with 80 percent of the tunnels around the city of Rafah destroyed by the end of August, according to the IDF.

Expert Analysis

“The dismantling of this extensive tunnel in northern Gaza is part of the long process of uprooting the hundreds of miles of tunnels assembled by Hamas. Hamas used funds and trade from abroad to build an underground terror city that led to the October 7 atrocities, diverting those resources from the needs of civilians in Gaza. Uprooting the rest of the tunnels is a key to defeating Hamas and preventing it from establishing new roots.” — Seth J. Frantzman, FDD Adjunct Fellow

“Hamas’s tunnel network epitomizes the terrorist group’s disregard for Palestinian lives. The billions of dollars spent on tunnels crisscrossing underneath Gaza — many of which connect to civilian homes — could have funded hospitals, schools, or bomb shelters. Instead, the tunnels prolong the fighting and suffering in Gaza and guarantee civilians are caught in the crossfire.” — David May, FDD Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst

Hamas Reveals New Instructions on Hostages Issued Following IDF Rescue Op in June

Two days after the IDF discovered the bodies of six Israeli hostages murdered by Hamas executioners in Gaza, the Iran-backed terrorist group revealed that it had issued new instructions in June to its operatives concerning those captives who remain in the strip, Reuters reported on September 3. The instructions are understood to focus on actions to take should the IDF approach the locations where the remaining hostages are being held, but their precise content was not specified. A spokesman for the terror group’s al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaida, said the instructions were issued following the IDF’s rescue of four hostages — Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv — on June 8. “Netanyahu’s insistence to free prisoners through military pressure, instead of sealing a deal, means they will be returned to their families in shrouds. Their families must choose whether they want them dead or alive,” Ubaida said.

Related Analysis

“Hamas Executes Six Israeli Hostages in Rafah, IDF Returns Remains to Families,” FDD Flash Brief

“West Bank Palestinian Terrorist Kills Three Israeli Police Officers,” FDD Flash Brief

“IDF Kills Terrorists Who Hijacked Gaza Aid Convoy,” FDD Flash Brief