The Israeli army, on Sunday, presented images of what it claimed to be the largest Hamas tunnel discovered beneath the Gaza Strip, situated near the Erez crossing between the Palestinian territory and Israel.

According to the army, the subterranean passage was part of an extensive network stretching over four kilometers (2.5 miles).

Israel stated that the construction of the tunnel, which included features like rails, electricity, drainage, and a communications network, cost millions of dollars and took several years to complete.

“The publishing of images of the long tunnel… 72 days after the start of the (Israeli) aggression, came too late,” Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official, told a news conference in Beirut.

“Thanks to this tunnel, the mission that we wanted to accomplish has been carried out successfully,” Hamdan said without elaborating.

Israel and Hamas are engaged in a deadly war since October 7 when the militant group carried out a brutal attack that left around 1,140 people dead in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Some 250 people were also taken hostage to the Gaza Strip during the attack, of which 129 are still being held captive there, according to Israeli authorities.

In Israel’s retaliatory assault against Hamas in Gaza, at least 19,453 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.