Hamas has a defensive tunnel network that is larger and deeper than the entire London metro system. Western Jerusalem plans to clear out the group’s tunnels in Gaza but this might be mission impossible
Hamas, an Islamic movement that controls Gaza, is believed to have a network of tunnels that is 500 kilometers (310 miles) long.
It features command rooms and training grounds, bunkers, and meeting rooms and is connected to a sophisticated ventilation system and a steady water and electricity supply.
It’s been more than 50 bloody days since Israel launched its Swords of Iron operation aimed at eliminating Hamas, following the group’s attack on the country’s southern towns, which has claimed the lives of more than 1,400 people and injured thousands of others.
Key locations, including Gaza’s parliament and the court and police headquarters, have already been captured by the IDF. The main, and the largest hospital of Gaza city – Shifaa – has also been taken.
Israel believes the medical complex boasts a sophisticated tunnel system, with gathering rooms and bunkers, where some of the hostages might have been kept.
Shifaa is only one element of the puzzle, however, according to Israeli intelligence. Based on reports, the city has some 1,300 tunnels whose overall length stands at 500 kilometers – a hundred kilometers longer than the metro system of London.
The network – which is located 75 meters (246 feet) deep under the surface – allegedly boasts ammunition caches, command and control centers, as well as training grounds and meeting rooms.
The ‘metro’ also possesses its own ventilation system and a steady supply of water and electricity. What we know so far is that the Gaza Strip has different types of tunnels, says Avi Melamed, a Middle East expert and a former intelligence officer of the IDF.
There are the so-called smuggling tunnels [used to smuggle goods, weapons and fighters from Sinai – ed.]. There are attack tunnels that penetrate the Israeli territory, and there are also those that have been constructed by Hamas for inner military purposes.
The construction of the network has reportedly been carried out for years, starting in 2007, when Hamas took control of the enclave, prompting Israel to impose a blockade of the area.
Israel has been well aware of the challenge and has tried to thwart it by limiting or banning the import of concrete, steel, and other essentials into Gaza, but Hamas has always found ways to divert the flow of construction materials from civilian projects into their military purposes.
It has also allegedly used the generous money donations – coming from Qatar – to fund this grand project. Those included the permission for thousands of Gazan employees to enter Israel for work, the expansion of fishing zones, and the permission to import goods.
According to estimates of the IDF, Israel destroyed 400 tunnel shafts since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023. Thousands of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants have been killed.
Experts are certain that once Israel tackles the issue of underground in the north of Gaza, it will move down south, where another network is allegedly located, and Melamed says the IDF will know to exploit the Achilles heels of those tunnels’ construction.
Hamas and other Palestinian factions are believed to be holding more than 200 hostages and at least some of them are hidden in tunnels.
Blocking these constructions or cutting them off from oxygen would mean certain death for these people too, and it is widely believed that this is a step Israel would not risk taking.
While eliminating the threat of terror, Israel has also been bombarding civilian infrastructure, including mosques, schools, hospitals, and residential buildings.
More than 14,000 Palestinians have already been killed, most of whom are civilians. Nearly 36,000 have been wounded.
Pressure on Israel has long started mounting, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying Israel should stop targeting women and children.
Similar calls have also been made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other world leaders, and officials in Jerusalem believe it is only a matter of weeks until this criticism grows louder.
Stop watch [on Israel’s actions] has always been an issue. But this time Israel is not in a position to take advice from anyone.
If we really want to get rid of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, we should show no tolerance in this war. We need to go till the end, no matter what our allies are saying, he summed up.
RT. com / ABC Flash Point News 2023.
I hope the Israelis kill every single hamas , hezbola and hoppies and those animal bastards never ever can behead Babies , Children girls , women or males ,rape little girls , rape any female or rape any little boys as the muslims love to fuck little boys up thier asses , they also love to fuck thier sheep and goats the sick deviant bastards . The muslims are the scum of the earth .
Your obviously totally poisoned by the Zionist propaganda narrative, which mirrors their own behavior in order to continue the Palestinian genocide. Well, it now seems that Israel has lost this last war leading to the total collapse of the extremely evil Zionist regime.
Israel is the most criminal regime in the world, only the media paints them otherwise, but that is coming to change this time around, now that everybodu clearly sees, how destructive the so-called military defense (IDF) forces really are!
Bluntly murdering tens of thousands of civilians before catching one Hamas leader, obnoxiousness behavior, with the world waking up and turning against this evil satanic empire.