The Israeli military is preparing to expand operational control across the Gaza Strip through large scale engineering operations designed to collapse remaining subterranean tunnel networks constructed by Hamas terrorists. Southern Command, the Technology and Logistics Directorate, and ground forces are coordinating the deployment of heavy engineering machinery to systematically destroy critical underground infrastructure that has not yet been neutralized.
Data presented to Defense Minister Israel Katz indicates high destruction rates and increased efficiency in disabling underground routes. The defense establishment is also deploying advanced detection systems along the yellow line perimeter under military control to warn against new digging attempts or the restoration of existing tunnels.
Under defense ministry policy, the engineering campaign over the coming year will rely primarily on military equipment operators rather than civilian contractors, regardless of potential security cabinet decisions regarding foreign troop deployments in Rafah. A senior security official confirmed that military intelligence possesses precise data on critical offensive tunnels that Southern Command insists on destroying to strip Hamas terrorists of underground assets built over many years at immense financial cost.
Concurrently, security agencies are maintaining an active manhunt for commanders of the military wing of Hamas and Nukhba force terrorists who participated in the October 7 attacks. Operational efforts specifically focus on locating commanders actively attempting to rebuild degraded combat units within the territory.
A parallel joint effort involving Naval Intelligence, the Military Intelligence Directorate, and the Shin Bet focuses on disrupting efforts to rehabilitate Nukhba maritime commando units. Defense officials warn that unaddressed naval capabilities could allow terrorists to launch renewed seaborne strikes against coastal infrastructure.
According to operational updates provided to REUTERS, military engineering units will maintain continuous ground presence to ensure long term neutralization of subterranean networks across designated defense zones.
