Hamas tunnel destroyed

TEL AVIV: The Israeli army said yesterday it had destroyed a Hamas tunnel that came from the Gaza Strip and crossed into Israel and Egypt.

It was the third time in two months that Israel had destroyed such a tunnel. It has recently boasted of secret technology allowing it to locate and destroy them.

Israeli army spokesperson Jonathan Concricus said the tunnel was 1.5km long and crossed 180 metres into Israeli territory underneath the Kerem Shalom border crossing, before snaking into Egypt to form a “U” shape.

“Contrary to the claim that it was a smuggling tunnel, it is a terror tunnel,” Concricus said.

“It could have served to trans- port terrorists to Egypt so that they could attack Israel from Egypt,” he said.

The army said it was unaware of any injuries or deaths resulting from the incident.

The destruction of the tunnel came after Israel said it had carried out airstrikes on “terrorist infrastructure” late on Saturday.

Earlier, it had announced the closure of the Kerem Shalom crossing, which is a main entry point for commercial goods and humanitarian aid into the isolated coastal enclave.

The strip has been under Israeli blockade since Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the EU, US and Israel, seized control of the territory in 2007. – dpa