IDF Engineers Destroy 2km Hamas Tunnel Network in Southern Gaza

The Israeli military announced Friday that combat teams from the Givati Brigade and the elite Yahalom engineering unit have destroyed a significant Hamas tunnel network spanning approximately two kilometers in southern Gaza. The operation, led by the Gaza Division's engineering unit, is part of a broader effort to clear the area along the "yellow line" border of terror infrastructure.

This destruction represents a substantial blow to Hamas's underground capabilities. The operation is one in a series of targeted actions by engineering forces and Yahalom against Hamas's tunnel network, which have continued even during the ceasefire to prevent the organization from rebuilding its capabilities. In the past month alone, forces operated in central and southern Gaza, destroying an additional two tunnel routes totaling over two kilometers east of the yellow line.

Previously, in May, the Kfir Brigade destroyed two tunnel routes of similar length in the central Gaza camps, uncovering underground living quarters, weapons, dozens of rockets, and powerful explosives. The engineering efforts are also exacting a heavy toll on Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip. According to IDF data, since the start of the ceasefire, over 26 kilometers of tunnel routes east of the yellow line have been neutralized in the northern Gaza Strip alone.

Notable operations in the north include the destruction of a one-kilometer tunnel in early September by forces from the Northern Brigade and Yahalom, and in April, the 205th Brigade led an operation that destroyed four tunnel routes totaling about 800 meters. These tunnels contained command rooms, mine stockpiles, and raw materials for assembling explosives intended to target Israeli forces.