In a statement released yesterday, they said that the tunnel discovery represents only a "drop in the ocean" of what Hamas has prepared against Israel "n order to defend its people, the liberation of holy places and the land and its captives."
The Hamas statement said that it took Israel months, thousands of soldiers, lots of money and top engineering talent to discover this single tunnel and even so it was too afraid to say all the details of what it found, which would make Israel look foolish. "The Qassam Brigades reserves the right to publish, in good time, all the details that the enemy hid."
Much of this is bravado, of course. It takes far more effort to build tunnels that are 30 meters (100 feet) underground than it takes to destroy them, and if Israel has found the means to reliably discover them then Hamas has wasted a lot of time and money.
And Gaza residents are unhappy with Hamas' spending all these resources on tunnels. Maariv reports that Gazans are glad that Israel discovered this tunnel because their hatred of Hamas is rising, but they don't dare speak out publicly. People interviewed for the story are complaining that they have children with advanced degrees who cannot find jobs and families who cannot afford to eat chicken while Hamas spends millions on tunnels that wouldn't help them win any wars. But they cannot speak out in public because they would be arrested.
People are even saying that they preferred living under Israeli rule because at least then they had food and jobs. And while the article doesn't mention it, it is obvious that the cement that is meant for ordinary Gazans is going to build these tunnels.
The divergence between Hamas' bravado and Gazan reality keeps widening.
(h/t Yoel)
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