Israel Defense Forces troops dismantled a tunnel stretching hundreds of meters in the Khan Yunis area, east of the ceasefire Yellow Line in the southern Gaza Strip, the military said on Sunday.
The tunnel contained three living quarters and dozens of weapons, including roughly 45 grenades, 35 ammunition magazines, 10 rifles, RPG rockets, an RPG launcher, around 10 explosive devices and six tactical vests.
“IDF troops under the Southern Command are deployed in the area in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” the statement added.
The IDF said on Saturday that it struck four commanders and additional terrorists from Hamas and Islamic Jihad across the Gaza Strip, in response to a ceasefire violation the previous day in which terrorists were identified exiting tunnels in eastern Rafah.
The military said it also struck a Hamas weapons storage facility, an arms manufacturing plant and two launch sites in central Gaza.
“The terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip systematically violate international law, brutally exploiting civilian infrastructure and the Gazan population as human shields for terrorist activities,” the IDF said.
The military reiterated that Jerusalem views any violation of the agreement with “utmost seriousness” and will continue to act against any attempt to carry out terrorist attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Jan. 27 that the military remains focused on completing two core missions: disarming Hamas and dismantling terrorist infrastructure in Gaza.
“I hear even now the statements that we will allow the reconstruction of Gaza before demilitarization. That will not happen,” Netanyahu said.
Speaking to lawmakers at the Knesset, Netanyahu said Hamas disarmament “will happen—as our friend Donald Trump said—the easy way or the hard way, but it will happen.”
Senior Hamas terrorist Musa Abu Marzouk, however, told Al Jazeera on Jan. 28 that the group never agreed to disarmament as part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire framework.
“Not for a single moment did we talk about surrendering weapons,” Abu Marzouk said, claiming the issue was never raised in negotiations.
A U.S. official told JNS on Jan. 28 that Hamas demilitarization remains central to long-term stability in Gaza and is a key component of the ceasefire framework.
The official said that the U.S.-backed National Committee for the Administration of Gaza is intended to provide an alternative governing structure focused on rebuilding civilian life and stabilizing the territory.
