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Hamas Tunnels for Attack, Smuggling, and Storage: Exploring the Extent and Potential Impact

JERUSALEM/LONDON, Oct 26 (Reuters) – Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group, has established an extensive underground tunnel network that stretches hundreds of kilometres across the Gaza Strip, according to security sources. These tunnels, which can reach depths of up to 80 metres, serve various purposes including facilitating attacks, smuggling operations, storage, and coordination efforts. The complexity and vastness of this tunnel network have been likened to a “spider’s web” by a released hostage and described as the “Viet Cong times 10” by an expert.

The existence of this extensive tunnel network poses a significant challenge for Israeli ground troops stationed in Gaza. The United States believes that Israeli special forces will face an unprecedented obstacle in battling Hamas militants while also striving to avoid harming hostages held underground. The U.S. Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, has compared the anticipated Israeli operation to Iraq’s nine-month-long battle to reclaim Mosul from the Islamic State, suggesting that the conditions in Gaza may be even more challenging due to the presence of numerous improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and booby traps.

Despite Israel’s significant investment in tunnel detection technology, such as an underground barrier equipped with sensors, Hamas is believed to still maintain operational tunnels that connect to the outside world. Following the recent hostilities in 2021, Yehya Al-Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza, claimed that the group possessed over 500 kilometres of tunnels, far surpassing Israel’s assertion of having destroyed only 100 kilometres. While Sinwar’s statement remains unverified, security analysts widely accept the estimate of hundreds of kilometres of tunnels.

Israeli security analysts suggest that Hamas has constructed a subterranean city throughout Gaza, with depths ranging from 40 to 80 metres. This underground infrastructure includes bunkers, headquarters, storage facilities, and more than a thousand rocket launching positions. The network is extensively connected, providing Hamas militants with a significant advantage in terms of mobility and tactical operations.

While Hamas keeps its tunnels largely concealed and secretive, recently released hostage Yocheved Lifshitz described the tunnel network as resembling “a spider’s web” and recounted walking kilometres underground. Hamas strategically employs these tunnels to neutralize Israel’s aerial and armoured military superiority, forcing Israeli soldiers to navigate confined and unfamiliar spaces.

Furthermore, intelligence sources indicate that Hamas’s tunnel networks extending into Egypt remain active, facilitated by a network involving Egyptian military officers. These tunnels serve as a supply chain for Hamas, enabling the group to bring in weapons, equipment, and people. Although a limited number of narrower smuggling tunnels between Egypt and Gaza were still operational until the recent outbreak of conflict, these activities have significantly diminished.

The extensive tunnel network developed by Hamas can be traced back to the mid-1990s when the group started digging tunnels following Israel’s granting of self-rule to Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization in Gaza. The withdrawal of Israeli soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005, coupled with Hamas’s ascendancy to power in 2006, facilitated the expansion of tunneling operations. Notably, in 2006, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit after launching a tunnel-mounted raid on an Israeli military base. Hamas continued to develop its tunnel capabilities, using them to engage in military operations against rival Palestinian factions and perpetrate attacks into Israel.

Detecting and combating these tunnels poses a formidable challenge for Israeli forces. Professor Joel Roskin, a geologist at Bar-Ilan University, emphasizes the difficulty of accurately mapping the tunnel network and the importance of highly classified information for comprehensive visualization and accurate analysis.

Specialist commandos from Israel’s Combat Engineering Corps, known as “Yahalom” or the “weasels,” are among the elite units responsible for identifying, clearing, and destroying the tunnels. These troops are extensively trained and equipped to navigate the underground labyrinth, but they face a daunting task given Hamas’s evolving tactics and adoption of lessons learned from other militant groups like ISIS.

In conclusion, the Hamas tunnel network presents a significant challenge for Israeli forces operating in Gaza. The extensive and sophisticated nature of these tunnels, spanning hundreds of kilometres, allows Hamas to carry out attacks, engage in smuggling operations, and maintain storage and coordination facilities. The AI legalese decoder can play a crucial role in this context by facilitating comprehensive analysis of the legal aspects surrounding the tunnels, such as the implications for international law, military operations, and efforts to counter Hamas’s activities. By decoding and simplifying legalese, this AI tool can help policymakers and military strategists better understand, analyze, and address the complexities posed by the Hamas tunnel network.

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