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Update: Israel says finds new Hamas tunnel; Hamas says it is "old, used"

Xinhua, April 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Israeli military said Monday it has uncovered a Hamas tunnel that crosses from Gaza to Israel, the first time such a tunnel was discovered since the 2014 Gaza War.

A military spokesperson said in a statement that the tunnel was built by Hamas, apparently after the 2014 war, to "infiltrate Israel" and carry out "terror attacks" against the country's southern community near the Gaza border.

The spokesperson said the tunnel, found about 10 days ago by electronic detections means, has been destroyed.

"The tunnel uncovered in Israel demonstrates once more Hamas' warped priorities and continued commitment and investment in tools of violence," said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for Israel Defense Forces.

"The tunnel exposes Hamas' abhorrent intentions to attack the men, women, and children of southern Israel," he said.

Israel's 51-day-long offensive in Gaza in 2014 claimed the lives of at least 2,251 Palestinians, 65 percent of them civilians, according to the United Nations. It also saw the death of 72 Israelis, all but six were soldiers.

The violence ended with a fragile cease-fire on Aug. 26, 2014.

However, a Hamas-related website, al-Majd, quoting an unidentified senior Hamas official, said on Monday the tunnel was not new and that it had been used during the 2014 Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.

"The aim of making the declaration in the Israeli media is to say that discovering the tunnel was a big achievement in order to keep the American financial support to the Israeli project of fighting tunnels," the official was quoted as saying.

Over the past few months, more than 20 Palestinian militants died in tunnels that collapsed across the Gaza Strip. Hamas leaders said digging tunnels was a preparation for any upcoming Israeli wars on Gaza.

However, Hamas leaders said they are not interested in any war with Israel, "but if Israel wages a war on Gaza, Hamas and the armed resistance will have the right to defend themselves and to defend the people in Gaza." Endit