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IDF troops dismantle 9 miles of terror tunnels, kill 70 terrorists in northern Gaza op

The tunnel routes discovered in the area contained living quarters and a large weapons cache.

Israeli soldiers from the 16th Brigade operate east of the Yellow Line in northern Gaza in this undated photo released on Jan. 17, 2026. Credit: IDF.
Soldiers from the IDF’s 16th Brigade operate east of the Yellow Line in northern Gaza in this undated photo released on Jan. 17, 2026. Credit: IDF.

Israeli forces have dismantled almost nine miles of terror tunnels and killed some 70 terrorists during operations in northern Gaza in recent months, the military said on Monday.

Soldiers of the Northern Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces’ Gaza Division, operating alongside the Yahalom combat engineering unit, have been carrying out a “targeted operation” against Hamas infrastructure in the northern Strip, focusing on the Beit Hanoun area, according to the statement.

The tunnel routes discovered in the area contained living quarters and a large weapons cache, the IDF said. “Brigade troops continue operations to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the area,” it added.

Approximately 70 terrorists were killed during the ongoing operation, the IDF stated, saying they violated the U.S.-brokered Oct. 10, 2025, ceasefire deal and posed an immediate threat to Israeli troops.

Soldiers remain deployed in the Strip in accordance with the truce agreement “and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” it added.

The current ceasefire ended the two-year war that began when Hamas, other Palestinian terrorist groups and Gazan “civilians” invaded the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023.

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