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by: Brian Schrauger, USA Radio Network
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon expressed “shock and alarm” after visiting a Hamas terror tunnel in Gaza in late October. Days later Hamas military commander, “Abu Khalid,” publicly announced aggressive reconstruction of tunnels destroyed by Israel during “Operation Protective Edge.”
Hamas invited Gaza newspaper Al-Resalah reporter Mahmoud Fouda on an exclusive tour of tunnel reconstruction.
“Busy as bees, everyone is digging,” he wrote. Workers’ “arms grow strong and tough. Every inch brings them closer to victory. They are digging tunnels needed to defend their people and their families. Freedom fighters of the Qassam Brigades are burrowing 24/7 beneath the earth.”
Qassam Brigades is the military branch of Palestinian Hamas. It is designated a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom. Qassam Brigades is widely known as the orchestrator of numerous terror attacks against Israel during the so-called First and Second Intifadas from 1993 until 2002.
One of its commanders, using the pseudonym Abu Khalid, guided Fouda on his tour of a secret tunnel. According to Khalid, it was bombed by Israel during this summer’s war.
“It is dangerous down there,” Khalid told Fouda. “We are working 24/7 to re-dig.”
Fouda’s article describes the history and intended use of tunnels like the one he was invited to see.
“Qassam Brigades established a network of tunnels over the past eight years,” Fouda wrote. “Some of them are for defense while others are for offensive purposes. These tunnels allow fighters to move freely, away from the eyes of Israeli surveillance drones.”
The Arabic version of Fouda’s report further describes use of the tunnels during this summer’s war with Israel.
They enabled Hamas military personnel to engage in “quality operations behind enemy lines,” he writes. The result, according to Fouda, was “killing and capturing [IDF] soldiers—and striking terror into the hearts of millions of Israelis!”
International response to Hamas’ terror tunnel reconstruction has been a collective yawn. Outside Israel it remains virtually unreported by mainstream media organizations.
Israel, however, has put Ban Ki Moon on notice. The Jerusalem Post reported that Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon told Moon that Israel “won’t allow Gaza reconstruction if Hamas rebuilds infiltration tunnels.”
Less than a month earlier, the United Nations brokered an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. In that agreement the UN accepted responsibility to develop a method to monitor reconstruction in Gaza. Its purpose: to ensure that materials and funds are not used by Hamas to rebuild terror tunnels.
It is a mechanism that, supposedly, went into effect on 14 October, the same day Ban Ki Moon emerged from his underground tour, condemning what he found.
Meanwhile, according to Gazan reporter Fouda, Hamas aggressively pursues tunnel reconstruction where its workers are busy as bees, invoking Allah’s help and blessing in their efforts.
Photo Credit: Tunnel, Photo by Al Jazeera/wikipedia.org
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