On July 8, the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of the Israeli-Hamas war codenamed Operation Protective Edge, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) uncovered yet another tunnel the organization had dug from the southern Gaza Strip into Israel. Crews building a subterranean barrier along the Gaza border located the tunnel when they were pouring concrete and reinforcing it with iron rods dozens of meters below ground. The barrier is designed to make it virtually impossible for Hamas to dig tunnels into Israel, although it is not foolproof, given that Hamas has proven its ingenuity in overcoming engineering obstacles on the Gaza-Egypt border, successfully digging hundreds of smuggling tunnels into the enclave despite Israeli-installed steel castings.

The depth of the Israeli barrier, which includes advanced technological systems, will make it difficult for Hamas to dig under and would require complex engineering solutions, given the lack of oxygen and weight of the earth involved. The IDF has completed about half of the barrier so far.

This was the 18th Hamas tunnel Israel has exposed in recent years. In the latest round of fighting with Hamas on May 4, Israel bombed a 20-meter-deep Islamic Jihad tunnel, which had several entrance and exit points. In October 2018, the IDF destroyed a kilometer-long attack tunnel that infiltrated 200 meters into Israeli territory and included power and phone lines.