Israel threatens to blow up Gaza houses covering Hamas tunnels

GAZA CITY- 10 August 2017: The head of the Israeli army’s Southern Command revealed the location of two alleged Hamas tunnel sites buried underneath an apartment building and a family home in the northern Gaza Strip, and threatened to blow up both structures in a future conflict despite a desire to avoid civilian casualties, the Times of Israel reported on Thursday.

The tunnels are believed to be connected to a vast underground network inside Gaza, which Hamas could use to move soldiers and weapons around the Strip in a future conflict, Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir said in a conference call with reporters.

Zamir accused the Hamas group of purposefully building the tunnels under civilian structures to provide cover for its operations.

“The intelligence that we have [shows] that Hamas is operating in a civilian arena and under the cover of a civilian population, preparing its infrastructure for the next conflict within the civilian arena,” Zamir said.

“Their goal, of course, is to make it more difficult for us to operate,” he added.

One of the buildings is located next to a gas station; the second is across the street from a cemetery.

Zamir warned that “these sites are legitimate military targets. Anyone inside of one, should another conflict begin, endangers himself and endangers his family, and the responsibility is on the Hamas organization.”