Palestinians inspect their destroyed houses following overnight Israeli airstrikes in town of Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
In its 40-minute assault on Hamas’s tunnel network in Gaza overnight Thursday-Friday, Israel destroyed miles of tunnels and killed what it believes to be dozens of Hamas fighters in what it hopes will be a decisive phase of the current conflict, Israeli TV reports say.
The assault was prefaced by a deliberate ruse in which the IDF indicated it was opening a ground offensive — prompting Hamas to send its fighters, including commanders, into the tunnels, Channel 12 says. When the IAF bombed them, “the tunnels collapsed on those inside.”
Some 160 Israel Air Force planes targeted the tunnels, a network extending through tens of miles in northern Gaza and around Gaza City. A total of 450 bombs were dropped, with a combined load of 80 tons of explosives, the TV report says.
“It is not clear” how many Hamas operatives were killed, the report says; “Hamas itself may not yet know.” It says many Hamas commanders are believed to have been in the tunnels.
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