Challenge in Gaza with Hamas's underground tunnels is unique - expert
Tunnel network includes 1,300 tunnels, spanning approximately 500 kilometers in total, with some of the tunnels located up to 70 meters underground.
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A fighter from the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, is seen inside an underground tunnel, in Gaza, August 18, 2014.
Military experts argue that the tunnel network constructed by Hamas is expected to pose one of the greatest challenges for the IDF if there were to be a ground invasion into the Gaza Strip. Apart from the underground facility
network of North Korea, Hamas operates what is estimated to be the world's largest tunnel network.
John Spencer, head of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute of the United States Military Academy at West Point, stated that the "
challenge in Gaza with underground tunnels is unique."
In an article published a few days ago, Spencer, a former officer in the US Army, added that the vast and expanding tunnel network is a problem that has "no perfect solution and awaits the Israeli ground forces."
Estimates suggest that the tunnel network includes 1,300 tunnels, spanning approximately 500 kilometers in total, with some of the tunnels located up to 70 meters underground.
According to reports, most of these tunnels are merely two meters high and two meters wide. Experts believe that the captives
Hamas took during the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 might be held within these tunnels, potentially used as storage places for weapons, food, water, and fuel.
Researchers who have previously investigated Hamas's tunnel network think that some of the organization's leaders are positioned within these tunnels.
A Palestinian boy walks in a tunnel as he takes part in a military exercise graduation ceremony at a summer camp organised by Hamas's armed wing, east of Gaza City July 22, 2016 (credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM)
The tunnels in the Gaza Strip were initially designed to smuggle goods into and out of the coastal enclave and Egypt, but over time, due to increased Israeli aerial surveillance through drones and other electronic espionage equipment, Hamas began to expand the tunnel network. However, the IDF only realized the danger and complexity of these tunnels following the
military operation in Gaza in 2014.
As a result, the Israeli government began constructing an underground barrier along the Gaza Strip border to prevent infiltration through tunnels. Experts say it's difficult to locate the tunnels as they might be built beneath various structures, but there are different ways to identify them, such as using ground-penetrating radar and techniques to measure magnetic, thermal, and acoustic fingerprints. However, most of these tunnels are revealed through human intelligence, according to a 2017 conference by the RAND Research Center on the subject.
Experts say these tunnels can be bombed while Israel possesses what are known as "bunker-buster bombs" designed to penetrate underground. However, considering that the length of the Gaza Strip is about 40 km, its width between 6 and 14 km, and its population is around 2.2 million inhabitants (making the Strip one of the most densely populated areas in the world), it is difficult to facilitate this option even if Israel determines the locations of the tunnels.
According to researchers at the RAND Corporation, Israel has used what's called "precision-guided munitions" in the past to close these tunnels.
IDF soldiers were previously only allowed to enter tunnels after being secured by special teams.