by Emmitt Barry, with reporting from Worthy News Jerusalem Bureau Staff
(Worthy News) – The Israel Defense Forces announced Thursday that it uncovered one of the most extensive and sophisticated Hamas tunnel systems discovered to date, a sprawling underground route running more than seven kilometers (4.3 miles) and plunging approximately 25 meters (82 feet) underground beneath Rafah.
According to the IDF, the network contained around 80 rooms used by senior Hamas operatives for long-term stays, weapons storage, and command operations. Critically, it was also the site where the remains of slain IDF Lt. Hadar Goldin were held for over 11 years until their return on November 9 under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal.
The tunnel ran directly under a “densely populated Rafah neighborhood and through an UNRWA compound, mosques, clinics, kindergartens, and schools,” the military said, once again accusing Hamas of systematically embedding military infrastructure beneath civilian sites.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “This is the tunnel where Lt. Hadar Goldin was held. More than 8 kilometers and 80 bedrooms. We must destroy the underground terror city Hamas built in Gaza. The IDF is working non-stop… until the last tunnel.”
Katz reiterated that the dismantling of Hamas’s entire underground infrastructure is a core pillar of President Donald Trump’s Gaza demilitarization plan. “The primary meaning of demilitarizing Gaza is destroying Hamas’s tunnels. I have instructed the IDF to prepare for the mission,” he said.
Years of Covert Operations to Locate Goldin
IDF and Shin Bet officials disclosed that Israel had conducted “dozens of covert operations” in recent months in an attempt to discover Goldin’s exact burial site, including the July abduction of Dr. Marwan al-Hams, a Hamas health ministry official believed to possess key information.
Israel had searched the Rafah area for a year but lacked precise intelligence on the tunnel’s hidden chamber. Hamas returned Goldin’s remains on November 9, a day after announcing it had retrieved the body from a Rafah tunnel now confirmed to be the same network revealed by the IDF.
Al-Hams remains in Israeli custody and was among the detainees Hamas sought to include in the ceasefire exchanges. Israel declined.
Senior Hamas Commanders Killed in Targeted Airstrikes
On Wednesday, after Hamas terrorists opened fire on Israeli troops in the Khan Yunis area, the Israeli Air Force launched retaliatory strikes that killed Abdallah Abu Shamala, Hamas’s naval chief responsible for past maritime infiltrations—including planning the October 7 seaborne assault.
The strikes also killed Fadi Abu Mustafa, the commander who helped construct and oversee the Khan Yunis tunnel system and who participated in guarding Israeli hostages, including Nimrod Cohen and David Cunio.
The IDF added that earlier Thursday, soldiers shot two Hamas terrorists who approached troops after crossing the ceasefire’s designated Yellow Line.
IDF Also Releases New Intelligence Showing Beit Hanun as a Major Hamas Stronghold
In a separate announcement, the IDF revealed new intelligence mapping Hamas’s vast underground and above-ground terror network in Beit Hanun. Nearly the entire city was transformed into a fortified terror zone, with thousands of buildings used as weapons depots, firing positions, and command centers.
Beneath civilian homes, Hamas carved an extensive multi-level tunnel grid stretching across the city. One of the most disturbing findings was an elementary school used by armed operatives, beneath which a tunnel shaft opened into a major underground passageway.
By July, IDF Northern Gaza forces completed the destruction of Hamas’s last remaining combat elements in Beit Hanun after nearly a year of fighting.
Netanyahu: IDF is “Systematically Eliminating” Remaining Hamas Pockets
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed earlier this month that the IDF is “systematically eliminating” the two remaining Hamas pockets inside the areas under Israeli military control: Rafah and Khan Yunis.
“If there is an attempt to harm our forces, we strike those who inflict the harm and also their organization,” Netanyahu said, emphasizing the necessity of uninterrupted military freedom of action.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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