Hamas: Tunnel Construction Continues, on Schedule

Hamas has not given up on its strategy of building tunnels to infiltrate Israel, Hamas top terrorist Ismail Haniyeh said Friday. Speaking to thousands of people at a Hamas rally in Gaza City, Haniyeh said that although it appeared that Hamas was in a “quiet period,” the terror group was using the time to prepare for the next round against Israel.

“There are those who believe that during periods of quiet, when the guns and cannons are silent, we are supposed to rest,” Haniyeh said in remarks reported by Army Radio. “But our Al-Aqsa Brigades are continuing with the path of preparedness and training. We are always getting ready for the future.”

And that future could come sooner than some think, Haniyeh said. “In eastern Gaza, our brave men are digging through the rock and creating tunnels, and in the west we are experimenting with new and better missiles every day. The resistance will continue to prepare to liberate our lands.”

Speaking Friday at a convention at the Dead Sea, Yisrael Beytenu head said that “the sounds of underground digging that Gaza border area residents hear, like the terror wave we are facing, are the direct result of the failure of Operation Protective Edge, and the protection Hamas has gotten from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon.

“Hamas is operating freely in Gaza, and is rebuilding its tunnel network, with dozens of them reaching Israeli territory, and it is rebuilding its rocket supply,” he said in remarks quoted in daily newspaper Maariv. “This failed policy not only lets Hamas continue to carry out terror attacks, but to select the time that it will be ready to renew its war against us. This is an unforgivable failure on the part of those responsible.”