Israel claims to have found about 50 cross-border tunnels underneath the boundary between Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, and Egypt — tunnels that could have been used by Hamas terrorists to smuggle in weapons to use against Israel.
The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies noted on Friday:
Israel went public on May 17 with the discovery of 50 smuggling tunnels leading from the southern Gazan city of Rafah to Egypt. Defending Israel against South African-filed genocide allegations at the International Court of Justice, attorney Gilad Noam devoted part of his remarks to the ongoing military operation in Rafah, a focus of international pro-Palestinian advocacy.
In addition to hosting four Hamas battalions and their reinforcements from elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, Rafah is the site of “an intricate underground tunnel infrastructure that runs underneath the city and provides ample space for operatives, command and control rooms, and military equipment,” Noam said.
“Nearly 700 tunnel shafts have been identified in Rafah, from which approximately 50 tunnels cross into Egypt. These tunnels are used by Hamas to supply itself with weapons and ammunition, and could potentially be used to smuggle out of Gaza hostages or Hamas senior operatives.”
The Biden administration has opposed Israel’s operation in Rafah, which Israel says is necessary to destroy the last Hamas battalions and to prevent the resurgence of the terrorist organization.
The White House claims that it is concerned about civilian casualties and humanitarian — but has not pressured Egypt to open its doors to temporary Palestinian refugees, nor to allow humanitarian aid to continue to flow across the border through the Rafah crossing.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
