Palestinian television aired footage Wednesday in which IDF engineering forces are seen digging near the security fence with Gaza, and – at least according to the report – searching for Hamas tunnels that reach into Israel.

The terror group claimed that it has dug deep tunnels into Israeli territory, and boasted that it continues to dig them.

“The tunnels reach deep into the territory that was conquered in 1948,” Hamas’s Mahmoud al-Zahar said, at the funeral of an Arab who had been employed in digging a tunnel, and who died when the tunnel collapsed Tuesday.

“They reach beyond Gaza,” he said, in a paraphrase on a statement by Hassan Nasrallah in 2006, according to which Hezbollah’s rockets reach “beyond Haifa.”

“Hamas has tunnels at a depth of 30 meters,” he said, “and more than 1,000 people work on the tunnel project.”

Interestingly enough, al-Zahar backtracked from his boasting in new comments on Wednesday, claiming, “the resistance tunnels are defensive tunnels for the protection of our people in the face of any Israeli aggression.” 

Last week, another tunnel collapsed, burying seven Arabs. The tunnels have reportedly been collapsing because of rainy weather that has turned the soil soggy.