Estimated to be at least 8 metres below ground, the network of hundreds of kilometres of tunnels will be a formidable challenge to Israeli forces, which until now have been pounding the strip with airstrikes.
One of the hostages who was recently released by Hamas referred to the tunnel network as a “spider web”.
Western and Middle Eastern sources familiar with the “Hamas metro”, as the network is sometimes known, told Reuters the the tunnels are being used for smuggling, storage as well as a base to launch attacks.
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Several top US officials have warned Israel that its forces will be walking into a trap and will find it next to impossible to breach the tunnel network successfully without suffering mass casualties.
US defense secretary Lloyd Austin said Iraq’s nine-month-long battle to retake the city of Mosul from Islamic State might prove to have been easier than what awaits the Israelis.
“There are likely to be a lot of IEDs (improvised explosive devices), a lot of booby traps, and just a really grinding activity,” he said.
Despite significant investments by Israel in tunnel detection, including the deployment of a sensor-equipped underground barrier, known as an “iron wall”, it is believed that Hamas still maintains operational tunnels connecting to the outside world.
After the last round of confrontation in 2021, Hamas leader Yehya Al-Sinwar, who is thought to be hiding underground ahead of Israel’s ground offensive, had said: “They started saying they destroyed 100kms of Hamas tunnels. I am telling you, the tunnels we have in the Gaza Strip exceed 500 km. Even if their narrative is true, they only destroyed 20% of the tunnels.”
However, there is no concrete evidence backing Sinwar’s claim.
But the estimate of hundreds of kilometres is largely acknowledged by security analysts, even though the blockaded coastal strip is only 40km (25 miles) long.
‘We walked kilometres underground…’
Israel exerts full control over Gaza’s air and sea access and possesses 59 out of the 72 kilometres of land borders (with Egypt situated 13 kilometres to the south). Consequently, tunnels serve as one of the primary means for Hamas to smuggle in weapons, equipment, and individuals.
While Palestinian groups have been discreet about their networks, recently released Israeli hostage, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz, said: “It looked like a spider’s web, many, many tunnels,” adding: “We walked kilometres under the ground.”
Hamas believes that, given Israel’s significant aerial and armoured military superiority, tunnels offer a means to mitigate some of these advantages by compelling Israeli soldiers to operate in confined underground spaces familiar to Hamas fighters.
“I won’t elaborate on the number of kilometres of tunnels but it is a high number, built under schools and residential areas,” an Israeli military spokesperson told Reuters.
‘Hamas leadership pretty much intact’
Israeli security sources told Reuters that despite heavy aerial bombardments, the tunnel infrastructure has sustained minimal damage, allowing Hamas naval commandos to launch a seaborne attack targeting coastal communities near Gaza this week.
“Although we have been attacking massively for days and days, the (Hamas) leadership is pretty much intact, as is the ability to command and control, the ability even to try and launch counter-attacks,” Amir Avivi, a former brigadier general whose senior positions in the Israeli military included deputy commander of the Gaza division, tasked with tackling tunnels told Reuters.
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“There is a whole city all over Gaza underneath with depths of 40-50 metres. There are bunkers and headquarters and storage and of course they are connected to more than a thousand rocket launching positions,” he added.
One Western security source told the agency: “They run for miles. They are made of concrete and very well made. Think of the Viet Cong times 10. They have had years and lots of money with which to work with.”
Another security source, from one of Israel’s neighbouring countries, said Hamas’s tunnels from Egypt remain active.
“The supply chain is still intact these days. The network involved in facilitating coordination is some Egyptian military officers. It is unclear if there is knowledge of this by the Egyptian army,” he said.
A few narrower and deeper smuggling tunnels were still operational between Egypt and Gaza until recently, reported the agency quoting two security sources and a trader in the Egyptian city of El Arish.
However, their activity has reportedly slowed down since the Israel-Hamas war began.
Professor Joel Roskin, a geomorphologist and geologist with Israel’s Bar-Ilan University told Reuters that it was difficult to map the tunnel network accurately from the surface or space as highly classified information would be required for 3D mapping and imagery visualisation.
One of Israel’s elite units responsible for subterranean operations is Yahalom, a specialised commando force within Israel’s Combat Engineering Corps, often referred to as the “weasels.” Their expertise lies in the detection, clearance, and demolition of underground tunnels.
Earlier this week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Yahalom fighters, telling them: “I rely on you, the people of Israel rely on you.”
“There are going to be a lot of booby traps. They have thermobaric weapons that they didn’t have in 2021, which are more lethal. And I believe they acquired a lot of anti-tank weapon systems that are going to try to hit our APCs (armoured personnel carriers), tanks,” Amnon Sofrin, a former brigadier general and former commander of the Combat Intelligence Corps told Reuters.
Daphne Richemond-Barak, professor at Israel’s Reichman University and author of the book Underground Warfare told the agency that the conflicts in Syria and Iraq had changed the situation.
“What the IDF (Israeli military) is likely to face inside the tunnels is also all of the experience and all of the knowledge that has been gained by groups like ISIS (Islamic State) and has been … passed on to Hamas.”
Hamas, formed in 1987 in Gaza, began tunnelling in the mid-1990s, taking advantage of the increased freedom granted in Gaza.
These tunnels have given Hamas an advantage in Gaza compared to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Tunnels became more accessible after Israel’s 2005 withdrawal and Hamas’s 2006 election victory. They were used for attacks and smuggling, with substantial profits from items like bullets and rifles.
(With agency inputs)