Nick Mordowanec
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have reportedly discovered new, never-before-seen weapons utilized by Hamas militants while targeting the militant organization's underground infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF reportedly discovered "means of warfare unknown to the security system," including new rockets found by IDF engineering forces in Gaza laboratories.
When reached for comment, the IDF told Newsweek via email that it does not "discuss specific operational capabilities."
Fighting has escalated in the Middle East over the past month following a surprise attack by Hamas on October 7 that resulted in thousands killed and hundreds taken as hostages.
In response to the actions of Hamas, designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Israel retaliated by launching its heaviest-ever airstrikes on the Gaza Strip as part of a war declared by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
As of November 7, over 1,400 people had been killed in Israel, and an additional 242 were kidnapped and taken to Gaza as hostages. The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war surpassed 10,300, including more than 4,200 children, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, according to The Associated Press.
An IDF spokesman said Wednesday that combat fighters of the force's 460th Brigade located and destroyed several tunnel shafts belonging to Hamas, according to a translation from Hebrew published by the Israel Broadcasting Corporation.
Newsweek could not verify exactly what kind of weapons systems are being utilized.
It was also revealed that during a recent raid on a Hamas training post, tunnels were reportedly discovered beneath the post. After exposing them, soldiers destroyed the shafts—which they believe had housed countless Hamas militants who prepared for extended stays underground based on extra water and oxygen supplies found there.
They tend to stay underground because they lack the means to fight in surface combat.
A member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group walks in a tunnel in the Gaza strip on April 17, 2022. Israeli Defense Forces have targeted tunnels belonging to Hamas as the war in the Middle East escalates following the October 7 attack.
The Israel Broadcasting Corporation says the IDF uses heavy engineering tools to infiltrate the tunnels then obliterates them by way of hacking devices and explosives. Such tunnels have been zeroed in on by the IDF due to Hamas fighters traversing them to get to and from different weapons depots.
On Wednesday, the Channel TV news network in Israel reported that the IDF has mobilized its entire engineering corps, including reserves, for the war taking place in Gaza. Forces have reportedly destroyed 130 tunnel shafts so far and intend to target more in the coming days, with some fighters potentially going into the tunnels if necessary.
A video posted on Wednesday by Channel 13 on X, formerly Twitter, showed purported Hamas tunnels located near schools at the northern end of the Gaza Strip being destroyed.
An IDF press release on Wednesday also said that Israeli paratroopers exposed a separate underground tunnel shaft near an amusement park, which it also destroyed.
Hamas reportedly operates more than 300 miles of tunnels in the blockaded territory that it has constructed over the period of decades, according to CNBC. Many are more than 100 feet underground.
"Underground, long tunnels that connect to hospitals and schools are connected by them," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said at a press briefing Tuesday, according to an NBC translation from Hebrew.
"They have communication rooms, ammunition warehouses, places to stay and everything in order to be used as a base of terrorism to harm the citizens of the State of Israel and the soldiers of the IDF.
"We are gnawing away at this ability," Gallant said. "And our forces from the north and south are approaching them and fighting inside the built-up area."
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