The Israeli military took to Twitter apparently from inside a Hamas tunnel on Friday, less than 24 hours into a Gaza Strip ground invasion — an invasion that was spurred, Israel said, by a desire to ferret militants out of the underground network that has helped Hamas withstand 10 days of airstrikes. “What do you think this tunnel was used for?” read the Israel Defence Forces’ twitter account Friday, alongside a photo showing the inside of a narrow and winding tunnel with stone walls. “Our soldiers are checking it out right now.” The IDF said 10 tunnels have been discovered thus far, with one military video purportedly showing an aerial view of Israel detonating what it has dubbed a “terror tunnel.” Another photo, also posted to Twitter Friday, showed an Israeli soldier crouched beside the mouth of a tunnel — a hole carved into the ground and surrounded by debris. On Thursday, 13 heavily armed Hamas militants tried to sneak in through such a tunnel, but were stopped by an airstrike after they emerged some 250 metres inside Israel. Israel says the tunnels connect rocket-launching platforms to Hamas command centres and can also “enable infiltration” across its border. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to prepare to significantly expand the invasion. “Since it is not possible to deal with the tunnels only from the air, our soldiers are doing it also from the ground,” he said before a special Cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv. In March, Egypt said it destroyed more than 1,300 smuggling tunnels that ran under its border with Gaza, Agence France Presse reported. With blockades at both the Egyptian and Israeli borders, the tunnels have served as the only way for Hamas to move people and supplies, Vox reported. Routing out what remains of the tunnel network is expected to take Israel as long as two weeks. But the longer the military keeps a presence in Gaza, the greater the risk for heavy casualties on both sides. Gaza health officials said at least 20 Palestinians have been killed since the ground operation began, including three teenage siblings killed by shrapnel from a tank shell attack. At the morgue, one of the victim’s faces was blackened by soot and he and his siblings were each wrapped in a white burial shroud. The Israeli military said it killed 17 militants in different exchanges of fire, while 13 were captured after surrendering. It was not immediately clear if the militants were among the casualties reported by Gaza authorities. One Israeli soldier was killed in the northern Gaza Strip, the first Israeli casualty among troops, the IDF said. The circumstances behind the death of Staff Sgt. Eitan Barak, 20, were not immediately clear, with Hamas’ military wing saying it ambushed Israeli units in the northern town of Beit Lahiya and caused casualties but Israeli media saying it was likely a case of friendly fire. “Good luck. Do what you need to do,” a friend of Staff Sgt. Barak sent minutes before the 20-year-old deployed into Gaza, according to a transcript of the text messages translated by the Jerusalem Post. “Hope to return whole, and stick it to them,” Staff Sgt. Barak replied. Diplomats said Jordan asked the U.N. called an emergency meeting of the Security Council to discuss the conflict in Gaza on Friday afternoon. The meeting will take place at 3 p.m. on Friday, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 04:35:09 +0000
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