Risk That Hamas Leaders May Escape to Egypt Through Tunnels

The Israeli armed forces acknowledge that leaders of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas could escape the Gaza Strip through underground tunnels and hide in Egypt. This was stated by Jonathan Conricus, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, in a press briefing.

“There is that fear. It is something that intelligence is actually looking into,” he said in response to a question about whether Israeli forces are concerned that Hamas leadership has already left the Gaza Strip. “We know that prior to the war, before October 7, Hamas had a vast network of tunnels under Gaza, and they were attempting to build tunnels into Israel, as well as a wide network of tunnels between Rafah in Gaza and the Egyptian side,” Conricus added.

The spokesperson also emphasized: “I do not have any updated information on the status of these tunnels, but my assumption is that at least some of them are still operational, and therefore, that risk exists.”

Earlier, we reported that Israel intends to flood the Hamas tunnels.