The Israeli army says it has found the biggest Hamas tunnel in Gaza so far, only 400m (1,310 feet) from the Erez border crossing between northern Gaza and Israel.
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| Israel - Gaza |
An AFP photographer was granted access to the tunnel and said it was big enough to fit a vehicle through it.
The Israeli military claims the tunnel would have cost millions of dollars and taken years to construct. It said the tunnel system had branches that together covered more than 4km (2.5 miles).
It claimed that the tunnel's construction was overseen by Mohamed Yahya, brother of senior Hamas commander Yahya Sinwar who is believed to have orchestrated the 7 October attacks.
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) also said it had found a large number of weapons stored in the tunnel.
An Israeli army spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, says Hamas expended huge resources on the project to "serve only one purpose, attacking the state of Israel and its residents".
The BBC has not verified the claims.
The BBC has previously verified drone footage released by Hamas in October showing Israeli troops near a tunnel close to Erez. The IDF posted on its Telegram account in October that "soldiers operating adjacent to the Erez Crossing identified a number of terrorists exiting the shaft of a tunnel".
source: bbc
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