The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they had uncovered an unusually large concrete and iron-girded tunnel used by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
It said the tunnel was located just 100 meters (109 yards) south of the Erez checkpoint, a border crossing between Israel and Gaza, concealed in a sand dune.
The IDF labeled the tunnel as a flagship Hamas project, designed to carry carloads of militant fighters from Gaza right up to the border.
The Israeli army said the tunnel had a depth of 50 meters, had electrical fittings, and was 3 meters (10 feet) in height and width.
It was “the biggest tunnel we found in Gaza,” chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. “Millions of dollars were invested in this tunnel. It took years to build this tunnel.”
The Israeli army said it had found a large number of weapons stored in the tunnel, ready to be used in an attack.
Israel has begun disabling hundreds of kilometers of underground tunnels it had found in Gaza.
Earlier this month, the army said it had discovered more than 800 tunnels and destroyed 500 of them.
Israeli media reported last week that the army was planning to flood the tunnels with seawater pumped from the Mediterranean Sea.
Courtesy of DW