IDF destroys Gaza terror tunnel after terrorists enter Israel

Israel Air Force aircraft on May 22 bombed an "underground Hamas terror infrastructure" in northern Gaza and two military targets that belong to the terror organization's naval force.

The IDF stated that the strikes were in response to the cross-border incident that occurred earlier in the day in which a number of terrorists infiltrated Israel from the Gaza Strip and set a military post on fire.

Palestinian sources reported that the strike on the naval target set a boat on fire.

The IDF underscored that the air strikes were carried out in response to "Hamas' ongoing attempts to dispatch drones and fire kites, with the intention of conducting terrorist activity and setting Israeli territory on fire."

"The IDF views these continued attempts with great severity, specifically Hamas' daily attempts to damage Israeli security infrastructure and threats to the safety of Israeli civilians," it said in a statement. "The IDF is determined to fulfill its mission to protect Israeli civilians."

"The Hamas terror organization is accountable for all threats originating from the Gaza Strip, above and below ground, and will bear the consequences for its actions against Israeli civilians and Israeli sovereignty," the statement added.

Tuesday night's airstrikes occurred after an IDF tank targeted a Hamas observation post in the southern Gaza Strip immediately following the cross-border incident.

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman revealed that the "underground Hamas terror infrastructure" targeted in the airstrikes was a terror tunnel.

"The attempts to attack the state of Israel from the air, through the fence and underground will be blocked with a wall of steel and with the IDF's might," he stated, advising Hamas' leadership to accept "that their military project is a failure" and invest instead in "improving the lives of the residents of Gaza."

This is the tenth terror-tunnel Israel has destroyed in recent weeks. Each tunnel costs millions to dig and build.

On Monday night, a Palestinian drone flying from Gaza breached Israeli airspace and fell in an open field in the Sha'ar Ha'Negev Regional Council area. The IDF stated that the drone "was under inspection."

These latest events occurred amid the daily violence on the Israel-Gaza border, orchestrated by Hamas, the Islamic terror group that rules the Strip and calls for Israel's destruction.

The March of Return culminated last Monday with a bloody day of violence, during which some 60 Palestinians, mostly terrorists by Hamas' own admission, were killed.

Since then, the border has been the quietest since the riots began eight weeks ago, while the IDF remains on high alert in the area in anticipation of another possible flare-up.