Officials said Hamas's new military has constructed a system of bunkers and rocket launchers along the Israel-Gaza border. They said the Hamas effort was proceeding amid daily clashes with Israel, Middle East Newsline reported.

"They are trying to dig tunnels, build surveillance positions and mortar posts along the fence," Brig. Gen. Moshe Tamir, commander of the Gaza division, said on Monday. "They are trying to build this and we are trying to stop them."

"Hamas is continuing to arm itself and improve its abilities," Tamir said. "Today it has more weaponry. We can feel this in the field. Hamas is trying to build observation posts, mortar positions, tunnels and bunkers. Its members are not just dispersed along the fence."

Officials said Hamas has organized an army of more than 10,000 soldiers, equipped with assault rifles, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank missiles and surface-to-surface missiles. They said Hamas has smuggled more than 112 tons of explosives from neighboring Egypt since the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

"They can fire Kassams [missiles] from one end of Gaza all the way to the other end and farther," Tamir said. "We are operating close to the fence because that is where they fire mortar shells, anti-tank missiles and dig tunnels."

Officials said Israel's military has lost the element of surprise in the daily operations within three kilometers of the Israel-Gaza border. They said Hamas, enhanced by experienced commanders and intelligence, has been increasingly successful in ambushing Israeli troops either during or after their operations in the Gaza Strip.

Tamir said Hamas was monitoring the deployment of Israel military's along the Gaza border. He said the Palestinian army was enhancing operations through a study of Israeli military tactics.

"This comprises ongoing warfare, and as such, there is also a simultaneous brain war that is taking place," Tamir said. "We are always studying what we do and modifying our tactics. They are trying to study us and use that knowledge wisely."

Israel has sought to reduce power to the Gaza Strip in an effort to halt missile, mortar and rocket strikes by Palestinian insurgency groups. On late Monday, Israeli Attorney General Menachem Mazouz, citing humanitarian considerations, suspended a Defense Ministry decision to reduce electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip.