The "military wing" of the Hamas terrorist organization, the Al-Qassam Brigades, is constructing a new road in northern Gaza adjacent to an IDF army base, according to Hamas activists.
Hamas operatives took pictures of the work, showing a truck unloading paving material in front of a bulldozer which had an armed Hamas terrorist hanging off the side of it supervising the construction, according to the Palestinian Arab Ma'an News Agency which published copies of the photographs.
In the background the Hamas activists claim an IDF army base close to the security border with Gaza can be seen, which would potentially mean the work was done in a no-go zone maintained by the IDF for security reasons to prevent infiltrations.
However, an inspection of the picture reveals what appears to be two people working in a fenced-off area in the area indicated by the activists as an IDF base, with no signs of any watch posts. The extreme proximity to the paving and lack of reaction throws into higher doubt the veracity of the claim.
If the road is truly being paved adjacent to an IDF base, it would raise great security concerns over the possibility of Hamas expanding its presence on the border to launch a raid.
Hamas has in the past tried to abduct IDF soldiers from over the border, most famously in the case of Gilad Shalit who was returned in 2011 for the release of 1,027 terrorists.
Palestinian Arab officials in Judea and Samaria claimed to Ma'an that Al-Qassam Brigades had started paving the 300-meter road (around 330 yards) in northeastern Gaza to stop residents from fleeing the Hamas stronghold and entering Israel illegally.
The claim indicates how the road is intended to give Hamas terrorists a road for patrolling its borders, whether to prevent illegal migration as claimed, or more likely to give the organization, which has committed itself to Israel's destruction, greater leverage in launching future attacks.
Gaza-based political analyst Ibrahim al-Madhoun told Ma'an that by building the road in an area that is off-limits given the high security threat, Hamas is showing its growing confidence in defying IDF forces.