The tunnel stretched "several kilometres" into Gaza and connected with other tunnels from which attacks could be launched, he said. Israel disabled the tunnel over the weekend, according to the military. "We filled the tunnel with material that renders it useless for a very long period of time," Col Conricus said. It was the fifth Gaza tunnel to be destroyed by the Israeli military in recent months, Col Conricus said. Some of the tunnels have been built by Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad and others by Hamas, the Islamist group which controls Gaza. Since last year, Israel has been using special equipment to detect the presence of tunnels, and is building a hi-tech barrier above and below ground along its border with Gaza to prevent new tunnels being dug.