TEL AVIV, December 5. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) admits that leaders of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas may have left the Gaza Strip through underground tunnels and fled to Egypt, reserve IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus said at a briefing.

"This concern exists. It's something that intelligence is really monitoring," he told reporters. "We know that before the war, before October 7, Hamas had an extensive network of tunnels under Gaza, they had attempts to tunnel into Israel as well, and there exists an extensive network of tunnels between Rafah in Gaza and the Egyptian side," Conricus added.

"I don't have up-to-date information on the status of those tunnels, but the working assumption is that at least some of them are still active. So the risk is there," he pointed out.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 200 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also underway in the West Bank.