GAZA — The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have released footage of a 1-kilometer-long Hamas tunnel discovered beneath a residential neighborhood in Khan Yunis, Gaza — a heavily fortified passage reportedly packed with AK-47s, RPGs, explosives, and other military supplies.

According to IDF officials, the tunnel served as a weapons cache and militant hideout, part of Hamas’s vast underground network used to launch attacks, store arms, and evade detection.

The operation to uncover and dismantle the tunnel led to intense clashes, with the IDF reporting that dozens of Hamas militants were killed during the raid. Explosives experts were deployed to safely neutralize and destroy stockpiled weaponry.

“This tunnel was a strategic Hamas asset, buried deep beneath civilian infrastructure,” said an IDF spokesperson. “Its dismantling is a major blow to the group’s operational capabilities.”

Israel has long criticized Hamas for embedding military infrastructure within civilian areas, a practice international observers say puts innocent lives at risk. The discovery underscores the ongoing complexity and intensity of the conflict in Gaza, as military operations continue amid mounting humanitarian concerns.