Israel Defense Forces soldiers operating in southern Gaza uncovered a Hamas hideout beneath a school building in the Khan Yunis area, the military said on Monday. The concealed space reportedly served as sleeping quarters for Palestinian terrorists.
The underground structure, which stretched for some 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) and was around 20 meters deep, was also used by Hamas “for military purposes,” the IDF said.
According to the IDF, a section of the tunnel ran beneath the Ma’an school. Troops examined and dismantled the underground passage after its discovery in recent weeks.
In additional operations across the Gaza Strip, the IDF said the 188th Armored Brigade, in coordination with the Israeli Air Force, dismantled hundreds of terrorist infrastructure sites and uncovered multiple weapons storage facilities.
On Tuesday, the military said that soldiers of its Paratroopers Brigade dismantled another tunnel route that split off in multiple branches and stretched for approximately 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) under Khan Yunis.
Paratroopers also killed “dozens” of Palestinian gunmen during close-quarters combat, as well as by ordering Air Force strikes, the IDF said.
Ground operations led by the Paratroopers Brigade also helped destroy hundreds of terror infrastructures including operational centers and tunnels, as well as “hideouts equipped for long stays used for staging and preparing attacks by terrorist organizations in Gaza,” it added.
The IDF is continuing to press ahead with ground operations as part of “Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” a campaign aimed at dismantling Hamas’s remaining terrorist capabilities, taking control of key areas in Gaza and securing the release of the remaining 50 captives.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told members of the IDF’s General Staff on Monday that Israel is “now facing the completion of the Gaza campaign, to achieve its objectives—first and foremost, the release of all the hostages and the defeat of Hamas.”
“I am confident that together we will succeed in meeting this challenge, which stands at the top of the defense establishment’s priorities, as well,” he added.
According to Israeli estimates, terrorists in the Gaza Strip are still holding 49 of the 251 people abducted during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 invasion of southern Israel, as well as the body of Lt. Hadar Goldin, an Israeli soldier killed in Gaza on Aug. 1, 2014. Of the 49, about 20 are believed to be alive.
Israel’s Channel 12 News, citing unnamed officials, reported on Monday that there had been no progress in the ongoing indirect negotiations with Hamas. According to the report, Hamas has yet to respond to Jerusalem’s latest remarks on the truce proposal put forward by U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said on Monday that “there are no official negotiations currently underway.”
Al Ansari added that Doha, in coordination with its “partners” and with mediation from Egypt and the United States, is working to “maintain contacts with all parties to reach a formula allowing a return to the negotiating table.”
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged the government on Monday to carry out a “high-intensity war” against Hamas while discontinuing the indirect talks for a truce.
“No more dialogue with murderers, no more deals with the devil, no more releasing murderous terrorists,” the finance minister declared during remarks at a faction meeting of his Religious Zionism Party.
“It’s time to continue the momentum of victory over the Iranians into a high-intensity war that will destroy the enemy in Gaza and remove the threat for decades to come,” said Smotrich in his public remarks.