Hamas tunnels in Gaza: The first group of trapped people left after the opening of the Gazan border crossing had been killed or wounded

The announcement followed a 34-hour communications blackout in Gaza over the weekend that coincided with the start of Israel’s “expanded” ground operations.

There was activity at the border as internet and phone service was out in Gaza. The Palestinian telecommunications company stated that the outage was caused by international routes that were previously reconnected.

The biggest number of trucks entering Gaza in one day was 59 on Tuesday. Israel continues to block the delivery of fuel. Dozens of additional trucks were expected to enter Gaza Wednesday.

Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 8,000 and injured 20,000 others, Palestinian officials say, and doctors at Gaza’s hospitals say they are overwhelmed. Thousands of foreign passport holders and hundreds of American citizens were stuck in Gaza since the war began.

The army said troops spotted Hamas fighters coming out of a tunnel near the Erez crossing point. The military said the Israeli troops killed or wounded Hamas members.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Foreign nationals gathered at Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt on Wednesday, as anticipation grew that the first group of people trapped inside Gaza since fighting broke out between Israel and Hamas would be allowed to leave.

81 seriously injured people are going to be taken to hospitals in Egypt according to the Hamas Border Authority. Medics entered the terminal in live television footage. There was no detail on nationality of those people immediately available.

“It is very dark and narrow, which is why it is a claustrophobic place.” And you lose your sense of direction immediately. The author of Underground warfare said that you lose a sense of time. The Hamas tunnels that crossed from Gaza into southern Israel were taken into by the Israeli military.

The Israeli military has a lot of strength. But the group’s underground passageways crisscross Gaza and are designed to allow Hamas fighters to quickly surface and strike Israeli troops without warning.

Chuck Freilich remembers the tunnels were part of the Israeli security discussions when he was Israel’s deputy national security advisor in the early 2000s. He sees the vast expansion of the Hamas tunnels as part of Israel’s broader intelligence failure in underestimating Hamas.

“You don’t believe that the enemy can do X and so you don’t see it,” he said. “Then in retrospect, it always turns out that there’s lots of information in the system, but people, smart people, ignored it.”

Israel’s failure to stop terrorists from tunneling: The Jabalia refugee camp attack by a powerful air strike on Hamas

And when Israeli fighter jets unleashed a powerful airstrike on the Jabalia refugee camp on Tuesday, targeting a Hamas commander, the Israelis said the attack collapsed tunnels used by the group. Palestinians said the strike caused one of the highest civilian casualty tolls to date.

“I think there’s all sorts of fancy technology being used to try and map out the tunnels,” he said. “But we may not know everything there is. Some booby trap is awaiting you at every turn. The hostages are likely down there.

“Hamas terrorists operate inside and under Shifa Hospital and other hospitals in Gaza with a network of terror tunnels,” said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, Israel’s military spokesman.

This is denied by Hamas. The group says Israel makes these accusations to justify a relentless bombing campaign that’s already killed thousands of Palestinian civilians.

When Israel upgraded its Gaza border fence a few years ago, it included a concrete barrier that went deep underground in an attempt to prevent Hamas from tunneling beneath it.

The U.S. learned the harsh reality of fighting in the tunnels when American troops battled the Viet Cong in Vietnam. The military has been able to use new weapons to battle them likebunker-busting bombs and high-pressured water hoses.

She says that Israel knows how difficult it is to destroy tunnels. Five years ago, Israel found out that Hezbollah had dug from Lebanon into northern Israel.