On Monday, chaos erupted at the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn Crown Heights as Orthodox Jewish men clashed with construction workers attempting to seal an illegally constructed tunnel, leading to the arrest of ten individuals.
The incident, captured in viral videos, showed confrontations with the police resulting in several men being handcuffed.
The Daily Mail reported that the tunnel, discovered last December, posed a threat to the building’s foundation and had been covertly excavated over the past six months. Despite this, the police have not provided an official explanation for the tunnel’s construction.
The tunnel extended from under the women’s section of the synagogue to a mikvah, a Jewish ritual cleansing bath, prompting the synagogue leadership to close off the women’s section.
Another report suggested that Yeshiva men dug the tunnel during the Covid-19 lockdown after being locked out of the Chabad Headquarters. Chabad is one of the world’s largest groups of Hasidic Jews.
Amongst the items discovered during the raid of the underground Jewish tunnels in New York was a stained mattress, which many suspected to be blood.
The discovery ignited claims of possible child/human trafficking and sacrifice ring.
Notably, reports of such “secret” tunnels have emerged during the Israel-Hamas conflict. Israeli troops, responding to Hamas’ offensive, have discovered underground tunnels built by Hamas over nearly two decades.
These tunnels serve various purposes for Hamas, including hiding fighters and captives, planning operations, storing weapons, and ambushing Israeli soldiers.
