The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recently conducted an operation in Rafah, a southern Gazan neighborhood, and destroyed a Hamas tunnel that ran next to a UN school.
The entrance to the 500-meter tunnel and its branches was located next to a UNRWA school. The Negev Brigade soldiers found the underground shafts and notified the elite Yahalom military engineering squad to investigate further and destroy them, as reported by the Times of Israel.
At the same time, the military demolished a Hamas installation that had at least nine missile launchers that had been discovered nearby. Blocking the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and destroying smuggling tunnels used to transfer weapons into Gaza are part of a larger effort to choke Hamas, which the IDF is executing in Rafah as part of.
The limitations placed on Hamas by Israeli operations are making it difficult for the organization to resist, according to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Thousands have been killed in Gaza and hundreds of Israeli soldiers have been killed in the continuing confrontation between Israel and Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military commanders are evaluating the situation and making plans for the subsequent stage of the fight as the Rafah operation draws to a close.