Military expert Major General Fayez Duweiri indicated that Israel's shock at the possession of tunnels by Saraya Al-Quds—the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement—in Gaza, explains the resistance's success at surprising Israel on the seventh of October. He highlighted that the tunnels are not exclusive to Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement. The Israeli army had recently announced the discovery of a tunnel belonging to Saraya Al-Quds in the Shuja'iyya area north of the Gaza Strip, stating that they were unaware of the existence of tunnels associated with the Islamic Jihad Movement. Duweiri noted that Saraya Al-Quds single-handedly fought the last two wars against Israel and launched rockets from unknown locations towards the occupied territories, including Tel Aviv. He suggested that owning such tunnels enables the secretive launching of missiles, as surface launches would allow Israel to determine the sites of origin. Furthermore, he pointed to Saraya Al-Quds being the second major resistance faction in Gaza after the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas. Consequently, it is natural for them to have their tunnel network as well. Regarding the ongoing clashes in the area that Israel claims to have withdrawn from after control was established in the northern part of the Strip, Duweiri stated that the Israeli forces' withdrawal from some northern areas was due to the fierce resistance, not because of their control over these regions. He concluded that these forces have retreated beyond the boundaries of the Strip but may return at any time according to the war's demands.
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