Nobody knows how big Hamas’s tunnel system under the Gaza Strip is. The General Staff of the Israeli Army (IDF) has given the tunnels the name “Gaza Metro”, writes El Pais. Hamas has been working on the tunnel system for over 30 years, and says it is around 500 kilometers long. If true, that’s more than twice the size of the Paris metro. An overview from 2021 of where the Israeli military (IDF) believes Hamas has tunnels in Gaza. Photo: Source: IDF Sophisticated systems Chief of Defense Eirik Kristoffersen says we have seen pictures of the tunnels in open media. – There are tunnels that connect different parts of the cities together, there are tunnels that also go into Israel, and there are tunnels that have been dug out over many, many years, he says. – They are more sophisticated than you can just crawl through, they are tunnels you can both walk in and move underground in, adds Kristoffersen. Only sand – Israel knows that going into an urban war will lead to losses among its own soldiers, it will be the case that every building, every roof, cellars and also underground tunnels will be a threat to the Israeli forces, says defense chief Eirik Kristoffersen. Photo: Milana Knezevic / news The last time Israel sent large ground forces into Gaza, in 2014, the tunnels were their biggest challenge. In an attack in 2014, 13 elite soldiers lost their lives. It was the worst single-day loss for the Israeli army in 50 years before the terrorist attack on October 7 this year. In 2014, the Israelis did not try to enter the tunnels. Instead, they tried to destroy them by bombing or blowing up the entrances, writes a group of top American military personnel in a report. Also during a smaller attack in 2021, Israel tried to destroy the tunnels by airstrikes. 11 days of bombardment caused great destruction. But when the media were allowed into the area, all they could see was a crater and holes full of sand. There was no sign of tunnels to be seen. Long history of tunnel warfare The use of tunnels in war has a long history, writes the Modern War Institute at the American military school West Point. During the Vietnam War, some of the worst fighting took place in the tunnels of the Cu Chi area. The Vietcong guerrillas had excavated up to 200 kilometers of tunnels. There they had command centres, field hospitals and ammunition depots. American special forces, nicknamed the “tunnel rats”, fought in the tunnels, armed only with pistols and flashlights. Last spring, the Ukrainian Azov Battalion fought Russian forces for weeks in tunnels under the steel mill in Mariupol. Tunnels eight meters below the ground and bunkers that could withstand a nuclear attack had been built there. Smoke rises from northern Gaza after an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday. Photo: RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP Bombs that dig in So far during this war, Israel has primarily attacked with bombs. – It requires good intelligence so that you hit where you need to hit, and then you have to know where the tunnels are, where the ammunition stores are, where the command centers are, says Chief of Defense Kristoffersen. Israel has access to American special bombs that can burrow up to 30 meters into the ground before exploding. – Then you have to know what to bomb, and many of the tunnels in Gaza are also under construction. Therefore, we also see the great civil destruction, says Kristoffersen. A Palestinian youth inside one of Hamas’ tunnels under Gaza City in 2016. Photo: AP As in Ukraine For Israel, it is an additional problem that the more than 200 hostages that Hamas has taken are apparently in the tunnels. 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz, who was released by Hamas on Monday evening, said afterwards that she had been held captive under the tunnels. Lifschitz is said to have been forced to walk several kilometers in the tunnels. She compared the “massive” tunnel network to a spider’s web. If Israel is to manage to get the hostages out of the tunnels by force, they must send soldiers down to retrieve them. The same apparently applies if they are to drive Hamas out of the tunnels. – It will be clearing meter by metre, and tunnel by tunnel, says Kristoffersen. He says it will be almost like the trench warfare we see in Ukraine. – They must advance carefully, take all the safety regulations you can to protect yourself. It is also a meter-by-meter battle to make up ground, says the defense chief.
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“Gaza Metro” – Hamas’ most dangerous weapon against an Israeli ground invasion – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
