It has been cleared for publication that the IDF has uncovered a second terror tunnel from Gaza into southern Israel, mere weeks after a previous tunnel was exposed and destroyed.

Second terror tunnel revealed by IDF IDF Spokespersons Unit

The tunnel reached as deep as 30 meters underground, security sources said, and begins in the southern Gaza Strip.

“Over the past few days, we have worked thoroughly in several locations,” a senior IDF officer told Arutz Sheva. Part of the IDF’s operations extended within the 100-meter buffer zone between Israel and Hamas-controlled Gaza, he added, as well as in other locations.

He hailed the second terror tunnel’s exposure as “a success, both technologically as well as professionally.”

The source added that the fire against IDF forces operating along the border in recent days emanated from a number of different military positions belonging to Hamas.

On Tuesday and Wednesday terrorists inside Gaza targeted IDF forces with both small arms and mortar rounds; Israeli forces responded with return fire and airstrikes, amid speculation Hamas was trying in vain to prevent Israel from destroying another tunnel.

Today’s revelations confirm that this was indeed the case.

The source added, however, that there is no evidence Hamas is seeking to engage in a wider escalation with Israel. Instead, the attacks were merely a last-ditch attempt by Hamas to halt IDF operations in the area.

The military believes there is another attack tunnel located nearby, and is therefore continuing to operate in the area – albeit under high alert after recent attacks.

Following Operation Protective Edge in 2014, Hamas focused its efforts on rebuilding its massive terror tunnel network into Israel, which the IDF largely destroyed during the summer war.

It’s massive rocket arsenal rendered largely obsolete by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system, Hamas – along with other terrorist groups in Gaza – refocused its efforts strategically, noting how Israeli forces were sometimes caught off guard by the terror tunnels during the war.

IDF diggers work to expose the tunnel – Photo: IDF Spokespersons Unit

However Israel, too, has learned from the experiences of Protective Edge. In recent years the Israeli defense establishment has invested massively in state-of-the-art tunnel-detection systems, which appear to have given them the edge over Hamas’s terror tunnels as well.

“We are in a better place since Protective Edge,” the IDF source stated. “We are working around the clock to locate more tunnels.”