On Sunday, the Israeli army unveiled what was described as the largest tunnel discovered so far in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war that has been ongoing since last October 7.
Pictures published by the army showed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant inspecting the tunnel, accompanied by a number of commanders, while the Times of Israel described it as a huge underground network reaching a depth of 50 meters in some places, and wide enough to accommodate vehicles.
According to what Agence France-Presse reported, the tunnel was provided with a pipeline, electricity, ventilation, sanitation, communications networks, and railways. Its floor is dirt and its walls are made of reinforced concrete, and its outlet is reinforced with a metal cylinder approximately one and a half centimeters thick.
She added that the excavation work cost millions of dollars and continued for years under the supervision of Muhammad al-Sinwar, the brother of Yahya al-Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, who is considered the planner of the October 7 attack.
Army spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said on the “X” platform that the nearest tunnel opening is located about 400 meters from the Erez crossing, which separates the northern Gaza Strip from Israel.
He added, “The army carried out exploratory operations in the tunnel, and uncovered more than 4 kilometers of the tunnel’s path, the maximum depth of which reaches about 50 meters.”
He continued, “The tunnel’s path branches into several branches and side lines, which in itself constitute a wide and complex network of tunnels. The path contains the infrastructure for sanitation, electricity, communications, and telephones, in addition to solid doors.”
He pointed out that many weapons were found inside the tunnel, and that offensive operations were launched from the tunnel targeting Israeli forces during the fighting in the Gaza Strip. A few days ago, armed men were spotted inside the tunnel.
Two Israeli soldiers inside the tunnel
In a study published on October 17, the Modern War Institute at the US Military Academy West Point indicated that there are 1,300 tunnels extending over 500 kilometers.
The Israeli army indicated, in early December, that it had found more than 800 tunnel openings, 500 of which were destroyed.
The tunnel dilemma
A lengthy report by the Associated Press previously shed light on the network of tunnels built by Hamas under Gaza, describing it as representing the “greatest threat” to the Israeli forces that launched a massive ground attack on the besieged Strip.
The report says that the vast maze of tunnels built by Hamas aims to hide its militants, its missile arsenal, and the hostages who were taken in the movement’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.
The report believes that clearing these tunnels will be crucial if Israel seeks to dismantle Hamas.
However, the report notes that underground fighting would largely strip the Israelis of the technological advantages enjoyed by its military, while giving Hamas an advantage above and below ground.
The “tunnel war,” as described in the report, is one of the most difficult wars, as the party that created the tunnels can choose the place where the battle will begin, and often determines how it will end, given its wide options for setting up ambushes.
This applies to the Gaza Strip, after Hamas was able to develop its tunnel network after 2007, when Israel and Egypt imposed a strict siege on the Strip, according to the report.
The report says that during that period, Egypt was able to close most of those cross-border tunnels. However, Hamas is believed to have a huge underground network extending throughout Gaza, allowing it to transport weapons, supplies, and militants out of the reach of Israeli drones.
In 2021, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, claimed that the movement possesses 500 kilometers of tunnels in the Strip, which has an area of only about 360 square kilometers.
Since 2004, the Israeli army’s “Samor” force, which means weasel in Hebrew, has focused on locating and destroying tunnels, sometimes using remote-controlled robots.
According to the American Wall Street Journal, the ground war in Gaza that began last October 27 “entered a new phase,” after the Israeli army moved its battle to the underground tunnel network in the Strip.
The newspaper said that it was “a battle that lasted two decades, after Hamas militants spent years expanding and fortifying the tunnels and turning them into a vast maze, and Israel was training to fight in them, and created specialized units and developed new weapons” to destroy those tunnels.
With the aim of “elimating the enthusiasm” that Israel declared at the beginning of the war, the Israeli army is working “using renewable tools, such as robots carrying cameras to map the tunnels, and container trucks filled with explosive liquids that are pumped into them through hoses,” said an Israeli military officer directing the tunnel battle. In northern Gaza, according to the newspaper.
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2023-12-17 19:15:40
