Israel on Saturday destroyed a Hamas terror tunnel discovered near the border with the Gaza Strip. In addition, the IDF said it was closing the Kerem Shalom goods crossing until further notice after Palestinian rioters severely damaged vital infrastructure on their side of the passage.
Kerem Shalom, on the southern Israel-Gaza border, will be opened for humanitarian cases only, the IDF said.
The underground terror tunnel was in advanced stages of construction just a few meters from the Erez crossing to northern Gaza, which Palestinians use to enter and exit Israel.
"It was approximately 1 kilometer (620 feet) long. It was dug over several months and we have been following it for a number of weeks," said IDF International Spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus.
It was the sixth such Hamas tunnel Israel has destroyed in as many months, thanks to the military's new counter-tunnel technology.
IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis said, "Hamas is killing the Gaza Strip. A tunnel was discovered at the Kerem Shalom border crossing in January, and over the past two weeks two large fires have been ignited on the Palestinian side of the crossing, forcing us to close it until further notice."
Manelis repeated the IDF's warning to Gazan protesters not to approach the security fence during the massive demonstration Hamas has planned for Monday and Tuesday to mark Palestinians' Nakba ("Catastrophe") Day, which commemorates the displacement of Palestinian refugees during Israel's 1948 War of Independence. The day is marked on May 15, one day after Israel declared its independence.
"We are prepared for a variety of scenarios, and we are not underestimating the riots expected to take place on Monday and Tuesday," Manelis said.
Hamas called Saturday's airstrikes that destroyed the tunnel a "failed attempt" to prevent its protests.
"Our people's response will come on Monday by marching" to the fence, it said in a statement.
Some 15,000 Gazans took part in violent demonstrations on the border Friday. Rioters hurled pipe bombs, grenades and rocks at IDF troops, damaged security infrastructure, burned tires, and launched incendiary kites that set fire to several agricultural fields in the Israeli communities near the border.
Additionally, for the second time in one week, Palestinian rioters damaged sections of the Kerem Shalom crossing on the Palestinian side, causing more than $9 million in damage and disrupting the transfer of diesel fuel and building materials into Gaza, the IDF said. The attack rendered the main fuel and gas lines unusable and caused damage to electrical infrastructure and other vital equipment.
The IDF said the crossing would not be reopened before the damage is repaired.
The closing of the crossing, especially for a lengthy period, will further exacerbate Gaza's already dire humanitarian crisis. The installation is the only way to bring diesel fuel into Gaza for operating generators for hospitals and other key facilities.
The IDF distributed a video showing Palestinians cheering as the complex was set on fire.
"Hamas continues to lead the residents of Gaza to destroy the only assistance they receive," the IDF said.
Some Gazans wondered why the demonstrators chose to attack the terminal.
"I cannot find one good reason for what happened, what is the wisdom behind this?" said one gas station owner.
"Some petrol stations have storage for maybe a day or two, so the crisis will begin by Monday or Tuesday should the crossing remained closed," he said.
The Palestinian National Committee said it was surprised by the "nondeliberate and unfortunate incident" at Kerem Shalom and called on Palestinians to refrain from undermining the crossings' operations.
Conricus said both incidents prove Israel's long-standing claim that Hamas and other terrorist groups are using the popular mass protests as cover for attacks against Israel. He said the IDF is doubling its deployment along the border ahead of this week's protests and that Israel will not allow the area to become an active combat zone.
"This really shows how callous the Hamas terror organization is toward the citizens they are supposed to care for," Conricus told reporters. "Hamas is killing Gaza with its terrorist activities against civilian facilities."
Israel is building a subterranean barrier to detect terror tunnels and prevent their construction. It says the barrier, as well as new technological innovations, have rendered the Hamas tunnel enterprise futile.
