Revealed: Terror Tunnel Led to Israeli Town

IDF soldiers discover tunnel from Gaza to Israeli community. Terrorists planned massive attack, kidnappings.

By Maayana Miskin

First Publish: 10/13/2013, 9:08 AM

Gaza tunnel, Flash 90

IDF soldiers recently discovered a tunnel, built by Gaza terrorists, that led from Gaza to a nearby Israeli community. The discovery was made late Wednesday night, but was under a gag order until Sunday morning.
Terrorists were apparently planning a large-scale infiltration and attack, and were possibly planning to bring Israeli civilians back to Gaza as captives.
Terrorists have made several attempts to kidnap Israelis in recent months, with the goal of exchanging captives for terrorists being held in Israeli prisons. A terror tunnel similar to that found Wednesday night was used in the 2006 kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, along with the killing of two other soldiers.
The terror tunnel that was exposed began in the Gaza town of Absan al-Zariz, located between the city of Khan Younis and the Gaza security fence. It extended for 2.5 kilometers (over 1.5 miles).
The tunnel had been packed with explosives at various points. Several offshoots had been dug leading off in various directions.
Special IDF engineering troops with the Yahalom unit went along the tunnel over the weekend neutralizing explosives and locating and sealing offshoots.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/172773#.UlqKjiT7No8

Tunnel ‘A Reminder that Terror Can Strike Anytime’

Calls to keep IDF soldiers in ‘Gaza belt’ as army reveals advanced terror tunnel aimed at major attack.

By Maayana Miskin

First Publish: 10/13/2013, 11:34 AM

Soldiers in Gaza, Flash 90

The exposure of a terrorist tunnel leading from Gaza to an Israeli town “is a reminder that terrorism exists, and can strike at any time,” MK Omer Bar-Lev (Labor) said Sunday.
The attack could just as easily have been aimed at any of the other many Israeli communities located in the “Gaza belt” region, he said.
The Gaza belt is the several kilometers of Israeli land next to the Hamas-dominated Gaza region; communities in the area have been targeted for terrorist infiltration in the past, and receive little to no warning prior to rocket or mortar shell attacks.
Bar-Lev warned against ending IDF security patrols in Israeli towns in the region, as was previously planned. “I ask, again, that the Defense Minister and the IDF cancel that decision in order to give residents of communities near the [Gaza security] fence the maximum protection, and no less important, to increase the sense of security felt by those residents who are on the front lines and who have shown determination in the face of daily threats,” he said.
Heads of communities in the Gaza belt region had the same request. They issued a call Sunday morning to keep IDF security operational in Israeli towns in the region.
The decision to withdraw military protection from the communities is “a bizarre decision” and “disconnected from reality,” they charged.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/172776#.UlqLYyT7No8