Jerusalem (CNN)The
Israeli military destroyed a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza on Sunday morning
and struck an underground "military complex" in central Gaza, Israel
Defence Forces (IDF) spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said.
According to Conricus, Hamas was
trying to reconnect an old tunnel, destroyed in July 2014, to a new section of
tunnel in southern Gaza. Conricus added that Israel has been monitoring the
digging using new detection technology for the last few weeks.
"What Hamas was trying to do
was build kind of a detour -- a new tunnel that would link up with a new part
that they thought would be usable," Conricus said.
The tunnel was destroyed from within
Israeli territory, but not with explosives. Conricus said that it was filled
with a "certain compound" that would render the tunnel useless. The
military would not provide further information on what was used to make the
tunnel useless.
This marks the fourth Gaza tunnel
Israel has destroyed since late-October. The third tunnel, destroyed in mid-January, was a mile-long tunnel
dug under Israel that stretched from Gaza to Egypt.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman
commented on the tunnel, saying, "I suggest Hamas invests their money in
the welfare of the residents of Gaza, because they won't have any more tunnels
by the end of the year."
In a separate incident over the
weekend, the Israeli air force struck what the IDF termed an "underground
military complex" in central Gaza.
In response to Israel's actions,
Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas, said, "The enemy thinks that this
escalation will achieve its objectives and break the will of the Palestinian
people. The occupation is held accountable for the continued escalation."
Overnight Saturday, the Israeli air
force struck what they termed a "military target" in the northern
Gaza strip, the Israeli military said, after an explosive device was detonated
near the security fence between Israel and Gaza. The military first responded
with tank fire directed at a Hamas military observation post in Gaza, before
turning to air strikes.
"From our perspective, Hamas is
responsible for any act of hostility that emanates from Gaza," Conricus
said.
Tensions between Israel and Gaza
have remained high ever since President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as
the capital of Israel in December. Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza
have regularly called for "Days of Rage," fueling wide-scale protests
along the Gaza border.
The most recent "Day of
Rage" was this past Friday to mark 100 days since Trump's recognition of
Jerusalem.
CNN's Amir Tal and Abeer Salman contributed to this report.
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