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Published December 21, 2023, 5:29 pm ET
The IDF blew up an extensive Hamas tunnel system hidden beneath Gaza's Palestine Square, where terrorist leaders were hiding during the October 7 attack on Israel – as officials said the ground offensive in the north is nearing its end.
The Israeli military released a video on Thursday of a huge series of explosions that destroyed the tunnels in Gaza City's posh Rimal neighborhood, which once housed Hamas' upper echelons.
Col. Benny Aharon, who gave reporters a tour two days before the demolition, said the homes and offices of Hamas' top Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar and military chief Muhammad Deif were connected to the tunnel network, The Times of Israel reports.
The posh neighborhood was also home to the daughter of Hamas' top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh.
The Jewish state believes that Sinwar and Deif were operating in the tunnels beneath Palestine Square when their forces stormed Israel on October 7, slaughtering 1,200 people and kidnapping more than 240 others.
Israel demolished a huge tunnel under Gaza's Palestine Square on Thursday. IDF The tunnels were located in the wealthy Rimal neighborhood, where Hamas' top leaders lived. IDF
The IDF located approximately 20 tunnel shafts leading to the Palestine Square subway network, with some entrances just meters from the area's main traffic circle.
Aharon told reporters that the electricity used in the tunnels was available because Hamas had been siphoning power from civilian generators and solar panels, stealing enough energy to allow terrorists to survive “down there for months.”
Given its location and size in such a populated area, Aharon claimed it was “not possible that people didn't know what was going on here.”
The IDF found several Hamas weapons and equipment in the tunnel system. IDF
In addition to the electrical system, the IDF found several weapons in the tunnels, including guns, missiles and night operations equipment.
The destruction of the tunnel was carried out by Aharon's 401st Armored Brigade along with the elite Yahalom Combat Engineering unit, which has decimated Hamas forces in the northern Gaza Strip.
After nearly two months of fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, the IDF said on Wednesday evening that its ground offensive in the region was nearing its end, with only a handful of Hamas bases remaining.
The tunnel system under Palestine Square had about 20 main entrances. IDF The IDF explored the tunnel system and conducted reporters a few days before the destruction. IDF
In the last 24 hours, the IDF said it carried out airstrikes against 230 Hamas targets.
The United Nations estimates that more than 1.8 million Palestinians, 85% of the population, have been displaced by the war after fleeing the northern Gaza Strip.
The UN added that almost 20% of all buildings and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip were damaged or destroyed by Israeli attacks.
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