The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Wednesday claimed to destroy at least 130 tunnels reportedly built and used by the Hamas group in the Gaza Strip. The IDF said that its combat engineers are locating and blowing up the Hamas-built tunnels.
The military also posted a video of a soldier appearing to be inside a Hamas tunnel, its walls lined with cement and the shaft partially filled with sand. The Israeli military did not provide locations where the videos were filmed.
Notably, Hamas is believed to have a massive underground tunnel network throughout Gaza, which it uses to transport weapons, supplies and fighters. Israeli airstrikes can cause only limited damage to the underground network.
Israeli operations in Gaza
As Israel continues its airstrikes and ground operations in the Strip, tens and thousands of Palestinians have now fled the combat zone in the North. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that about 15,000 people fled on Tuesday, compared to 5,000 on Monday and 2,000 on Sunday.
This comes after the Israeli military gave a four-hour window for civilians to flee the area. Meanwhile, Hospitals in Gaza are nearing collapse under Israel's wartime siege, which has cut power and deliveries of food, fuel and other necessities to the territory.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that there would be no ceasefire in its war against Hamas until the latter releases the hostages it captured on October 7. Meanwhile, Hamas on Wednesday accused the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) of "colluding" with Israel as thousands of Palestinians streamed from northern Gaza to the southern side of the Strip. Israel has called on residents of northern Gaza to move south to get away from fighting.
Hamas has blocked roads and even fired on Palestinians trying to flee, according to the IDF.
Israel to have 'security responsibility'
Netanyahu also said that Israel will have "security responsibility' in Gaza for an indefinite period after the war against Hamas ends. This comes after the US opposed Israeli reoccupation of Gaza.
"I think Israel will for an indefinite period have security responsibility... We've seen what happens when we don't have that... security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn't imagine," Netanyahu told ABC News in an interview.
Meanwhile, Hamas denied that Israel is making big military gains in the Strip. Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad said that numerous Israeli soldiers were killed on Monday and “many tanks were destroyed.” The IDF has claimed to kill thousands of Hamas fighters.
Although Israel has managed to cut the territory in half and encircle Gaza City, they have lost more than 30 soldiers in the ongoing fighting.
The number of Palestinians killed in the war passed 10,500, including more than 4,300 children, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said.
In the occupied West Bank, more than 160 Palestinians have been killed in the violence and Israeli raids. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the fighting, and 239 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group.
(with input from agencies)
