Rockets at a depth of 30 meters
Israel’s army discovers large Hamas weapons cache
January 9, 2024, 7:44 a.m
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The Israeli military says it finds a large Hamas weapons production facility in the middle of a densely populated area. Among other things, the terrorist organization is said to have manufactured rockets there – and stored them in tunnel shafts deep underground.
The Israeli army says it has discovered “Hamas’ largest weapons production facility” in the Gaza Strip since the start of the recent war against the Islamist Palestinian organization. Some of the tunnel shafts containing rockets and grenades in Bureij in the center of the Gaza Strip are 30 meters deep, the army said. The tunnels are part of a network that connects Hamas fighters throughout the Gaza Strip.
An Israeli soldier inspects newly discovered Hamas rockets – they can no longer pose a threat to Israel.
(Photo: REUTERS)
Army representatives had previously shown journalists numerous weapons factories and tunnels in the Palestinian territory that Hamas used for military purposes. Apparent cement factories and other industrial facilities are actually used to produce rockets and grenades, army officials said during a press tour in the Bureij refugee settlement south of the city of Gaza.
In one of the barracks, army spokesman Daniel Hagari showed detonators for rockets that can hit the south and center of Israel at any time due to their range of around 100 kilometers. Hagari told reporters at the scene that “this factory was embedded in Salah al-Din Street” – a key north-south route that is also used to transport humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu still wants to “eliminate” Hamas
An Israeli soldier presents a find from the weapons factory.
(Photo: REUTERS)
At his evening press conference at the weekend, Hagari said that the Israeli army had “completed the dismantling of Hamas’ military structure in the northern Gaza Strip.” The armed forces would now concentrate on destroying the Islamist Palestinian organization “in the center and south of the area.”
Chan Yunis in the south has an “underground city made up of multiple branching tunnels”. The refugee camps in the center of the Gaza Strip are “overcrowded and full of terrorists,” said Hagari. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently reiterated that his government had ordered the army to “eliminate Hamas,” return all hostages and ensure that the Gaza Strip “never poses a threat to Israel again.”