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Israel warns Hamas against a new intifada

The Israel Defense Forces destroyed a Gaza tunnel this week as a signal and warning to Hamas not to open a new intifada against Israel.
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On the night between Dec. 9 and Dec. 10, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) destroyed a cross-border underground Hamas tunnel that penetrated hundreds of meters into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. A month and a half ago, on Oct. 31, the IDF had destroyed another tunnel from the Strip that crossed the border into the area of Kibbutz Kissufim in Israel. In the explosion in this tunnel, at least 12 members of Islamic Jihad were trapped and killed. Five bodies extracted from the tunnel are being held by Israel as a bargaining chip for future negotiations.

The IDF presented the discovery of the second tunnel as the fruit of its new technological and operational abilities. However, this tunnel (which was blown up this week) had been known to the security apparatus months ago. It was discretely destroyed without the Israeli threats and rhetoric that accompanied the blowing up of the earlier tunnel. The difference between the two tunnels is that the first constituted a present and immediate danger to Israel, while the second tunnel — which was found in an open agricultural terrain in Israel that is relatively distant from the settled localities — was set aside as a bargaining chip with which to threaten Hamas.

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