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The stunted nature of Palestinian politics and civic culture can be traced to this phenomenon. Israel left Gaza almost a decade ago. By this time, the territory could have had a thriving seaside tourist industry. Instead, Hamas’ theocrats have poured their scant financial resources into missiles.

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The Israeli Defense Forces is posting photographs and videos on Twitter, showing the extensive network of tunnels used by Hamas terrorists to move fighters and weapons.

“All of Gaza is an underground city, and the amount of infrastructure Hamas built up over the years is immense,” said Capt. Eytan Buchman, an Israeli military spokesman.

“There are tunnels, extended bunkers, weapons storage facilities, even within urban areas,” he told the Washington Post.

Now the IDF is working to destroy the tunnel network, depriving Hamas of an enormous tactical advantage.

Last October, the Israeli military announced it had uncovered a tunnel that stretched for 1.7 kilometres under the Gaza border exiting near a kibbutz, Ein Hashlosha.

The tunnel, which reportedly cost $10-million to build, was tall enough for a man to stand upright and lined with concrete. It was lit by electricity and included a communications network. There were also stashes of cookies, yogurt and other food, the online newspaper Al-Monitor reported.

The discovery prompted Israel to halt all shipments of cement and other building supplies to the coastal territory.