TEL AVIV, December 29. /TASS/. The headquarters of the leadership of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas and its network of tunnels in the northern Gaza Strip have been spotted and destroyed, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) press service reported.

"The 14th Reserve Brigade Combat Team <…> located and destroyed one of the hideout apartments of the leader of the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar. The apartment was located near Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip," the statement said.

"The soldiers inspected the tunnel shaft and reached a significant tunnel that is apparently used by the senior officials of Hamas’ Military and Political Wing," it said.

The apartment "is part of a long and branching tunnel network, in which senior officials of the Hamas terrorist organization moved and operated," the IDF press service said.

"The tunnel shaft <…> led to a 218-meter-long tunnel, with a depth of about 20 meters. Located in the tunnel was an electrical network, ventilation and sewage infrastructure, hideout materials, prayer rooms and resting rooms. The tunnel was built so that it would be possible to stay inside it and conduct combat from it for long periods of time," the IDF added.

"At the end of the examination and the operational activity conducted along the tunnel route, the tunnel was destroyed," the press service concluded.