Many Golani soldiers reported this:
A few hamas
terrorists were captured and interrogated . We asked them, "if
you had these tunnels for so long, how come they were never used to kidnap
or kill Israelis?" They answered: "we were digging and building
for 2 years. Many tunnels ran 25 feet below the surface all the way into
Israel. We prepared for 2 years and were ready to use them this Rosh
Hashanah.
The plan was to attack with 125-130 terrorists in each
tunnel (40 found so far), armed and dressed as IDF soldiers. On Rosh
Hashanah, we were to set off explosions and kill as many Jews as
possible. That is when most guards are off in shul for the 2 day
holiday.
"We planed to kidnap as many Jews possible, and hide
them in Gaza as human shields. It would have been the end of israel, we
would have taken over." All of the Hamas terrorists were going in,
and they were almost ready--only 2 months left!
This Rosh Hashana they were
going to do this! And our war now saved our lives."
The tragic deaths of
the three boys kidnapped enabled the IDF to find these tunnels before mass
destruction took place.