Army Says Finds New Hamas Tunnel Reaching into Israel from Gaza

Israeli forces uncovered a Hamas tunnel stretching across the border from Gaza on Thursday, the army said, the second such discovery in recent weeks.

"About four hours ago the IDF exposed a second tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip," army spokesman Peter Lerner said.

"We understand the tunnel was approximately 28 to 29 meters (100 feet) deep in the southern Gaza Strip, stretching from Gazan territory into Israel."

He did not say how far into Israel the tunnel stretched but confirmed the discovery was made by Israeli forces on the Gazan side of the border.

The discovery follows another on April 18 in which the IDF said it had uncovered the first Hamas tunnel since the devastating 2014 war in Gaza.

It comes amid a new flare-up in violence along the border with the Palestinian enclave.

A series of Israeli air strikes on Gaza overnight wounded four people, including three children, while Israel said Hamas fighters have fired a number of mortars at Israeli territory since Wednesday.

Lerner confirmed IDF forces had been fired on, saying that in the last 24 hours "we have had at least six incidents where Hamas has fired at IDF activities."

It was the first time Hamas had directly fired on Israeli soldiers since the 2014 conflict, which left over 2,251 Palestinians and 73 Israelis dead, he said.

"Israel has no interest in escalation whatsoever," Lerner added.