This morning the following was allowed to be published: Over the weekend, IDF forces thwarted another terror tunnel that penetrated from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, in the Jabaliya area.
IDF spokesman Brigadier General Ronen Manelis says that this is the fifth tunnel that has been foiled on Israeli territory in recent times.
The tunnel's thwarting was made possible thanks to a prolonged intelligence and technological effort, and after a long period of monitoring its development.
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The IDF stated that from the moment the tunnel crossed the Gaza fence, it did not pose a danger to the country's residents, even though it was ready for use.
The tunnel was destroyed kilometers inside the Strip, by pouring in materials that thwarted it. The achievement the army is talking about is that the thwarting hit a network of additional tunnels that were connected to it inside the Strip, as it was an opening to that network.
It was also reported that it was a long, high-quality tunnel that penetrated several meters into Israeli territory.
It was built in the period after Operation Protective Edge using money given for the reconstruction of the Strip, and this is the first tunnel that the IDF has uncovered in the northern sector since the fighting in 2014.
At the same time, an IDF spokesman says that so far 9 kilometers out of 65 kilometers of construction of the underground barrier have been completed.
The army says that the current tunnel being thwarted is part of the tunnel system that is supposed to be completely thwarted by the end of the year.
An IDF spokesman says that the tunnel was in the area where the demonstrators were operating on recent Fridays, an area where there is a variety of security infrastructure and therefore the army's extensive security activity.
Defense Minister Lieberman welcomed the destruction of the tunnel, which he described as "the longest and deepest ever uncovered.".
""We are starting a week with an impressive intelligence and operational achievement, with the destruction of another terror tunnel, the longest and deepest ever uncovered," Liberman tweeted.
Lieberman added that "millions of dollars were invested in digging the tunnel, money that instead of alleviating the distress of the residents, sank into the sand. Residents of Gaza, Hamas is burning your money on tunnels to nowhere. We will lay hands on them all.".
Transportation and Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz joined in the congratulations: "Congratulations to the IDF for exposing and blowing up another Hamas terror tunnel, which penetrated into Israeli territory opposite the Jabaliya camp. This is the first penetrating tunnel to be exposed and blown up in the northern sector of Gaza since Operation Protective Edge and clearly shows: the era of the tunnel threat is about to come to an end. We will persist in eliminating threats to Israel in every sector and against every factor.".
