To ward off demands from Washington, Cairo and Riyadh to back the Palestinian unity effort, Netanyahu chose to show them what was really going on in Gaza.The IDF and Israeli intelligence certainly knew a terrorist tunnel was being dug in the Gaza Strip near Khan Younes some weeks ago. But they waited until it crossed over and had snaked almost a kilometer inside Israel up to a point near Kissufim before blowing it up on Monday, Oct. 30. The IDF must also have known that Jihad Islami, which Iran established as its Palestinian arm, was building it, rather than Hamas.
The Jihadis threatened retaliation after reporting 11 of their men killed, including two top commanders, and two Hamas operatives, and 15 were injured – most of them mortally. Israel and Hamas are both on high alert for potential escalation. Ahead of the operation, Israel positioned an Iron Dome battery outside the Gaza Strip in case it prompted rocket fire in reprisal. The army also closed off parts of the border region to entry. READ MORE
