Israel says Hamas has 15 cross-border "terror" tunnels
Xinhua, February 27, 2017 Adjust font size:
Israeli military officials said Sunday that Hamas has 15 cross-border warfare tunnels that can be used to attack Israel, local media reported.
Hebrew-language Channel 2 cited unnamed high-ranked military officials saying that Hamas has retained its ability to carry out a tunnel attack through the tunnels, despite Israel's campaign in Gaza in July-August 2014.
Israel said the 51-day assault was aimed primarily to address the tunnel threat that could enable Hamas militants to cross from the besieged Palestinian enclave into Israel.
In 2016, Israel claimed to find two cross-border "terror" tunnels that were dug after the 2014 war.
The war 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 ceasefire on Aug. 26, 2014. Endit