(Dan Tri) – Israel has spent many years still unable to neutralize the maze of tunnels that are likened to Hamas’s nuclear network in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas is said to operate a tunnel network stretching hundreds of kilometers (Photo: Getty).
The first hostages released by Hamas forces described the underground tunnel system as a giant spider web with a depth of up to 80 meters and hundreds of kilometers long.
According to familiar sources, this tunnel network is extremely complex, containing many weapons warehouses and important military activities of Hamas.
Although Israeli forces spent a lot of effort finding ways to disable this system, the Hamas army was still able to find a way to ensure the tunnel operated secretly and effectively.
After the last round of conflict in 2021, the leader of Hamas forces in Gaza, Mr. Yehya Al-Sinwar said: `Let’s say that Israel has actually destroyed 100km of Hamas tunnels as claimed, with the entire network
The tunnel network is one of the main routes for Hamas to transport weapons and troops because Israel has full control over Gaza’s air and sea routes, as well as most of the land’s borders.
Giant `spider web`.
Israel has not been able to neutralize Hamas’s tunnel network (Photo: New York Times).
Although there is no accurate evidence for the statement of the leader of Hamas, many analysts believe that the number of hundreds of kilometers is reasonable.
Yocheved Lifshitz, an 85-year-old hostage released by Hamas forces, revealed: `It looked like a spider web with countless tunnel branches. We walked for kilometers underground.`
On October 26, an Israeli military spokesman said: `I will not go into detail about the length of the tunnel but this is really a very large number, they are built under schools and residential areas.`
The network is believed to have begun construction in the mid-1990s, when Israel granted Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization some autonomy in Gaza.
At that time, there were not many records about information about known military tunnels.
An operator of the Rafah tunnel, Mr. Abu Qusay, said it takes 3-6 months to dig a tunnel about 800 meters long.
The most profitable item is bullets, bought for $1/bullet in Egypt and sold for more than $6 in the Gaza Strip.
`There is a city 40-50 meters deep under Gaza. They contain many bunkers, headquarters, weapons depots and of course, they are connected to more than 1,000 rocket launch sites,` the source added.
Underground battle line
The tunnel became an underground battle line between Hamas and Israel.
Professor Joel Roskin, a geologist from Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, said `it is difficult to map tunnel networks accurately from the surface or space`.
Israeli security sources said intense Israeli aerial bombardment caused some damage to the tunnel.
Among the elite units tasked with raiding the Hamas tunnels is Yahalom, a professional commando group of Israel’s Combat Engineering Corps whose mission is to search, clear and destroy tunnels.
Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited and encouraged Yahalom fighters: `I and the people of Israel are counting on you.`
Israeli sources said many challenges await this force.
`What the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will likely face inside the tunnel is the long combat experience that Hamas has learned from many Islamist groups, including the Islamic Organization of the United States.
