The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the Israeli military was taken aback by the size of the tunnel network constructed by Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip, which exceeded Israeli estimates before the war by hundreds of times.
According to the Israeli publication, the military was surprised to find that the size of the tunnel network in the sector was about 600% more than what military leaders had previously estimated.
On December 17th, the Israeli occupation army announced the discovery of a tunnel in northern Gaza Strip, spanning 4 kilometers across from the Gaza envelope settlements. It touted the discovery as an achievement, even though the tunnel was found approximately 60 days after the Israeli forces’ ground incursion into the sector.
However, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, responded by saying that the occupation army was too late, and that the discovered tunnel was built for use in the Battle of Al-Qassam Flood, on October 7th.
The Israeli occupation’s agenda in its aggression towards Gaza includes the destruction or disruption of the sector’s resistance tunnel network, which extends underground for hundreds of kilometers.
An investigation published by Yedioth Ahronoth pointed out that most Israeli security apparatuses had two estimates regarding the number of Hamas tunnels in Gaza at the start of the ground invasion of the sector. The first estimate pointed to the existence of about 100 to 200 kilometers of tunnels under Gaza, and the second was that by the end of the year 2020, there were no offensive tunnels towards the settlements in the Gaza envelope. However, the incorrectness of these estimates was discovered during the ground operation in Gaza.
Tunnel Warfare
Tunnels represented the biggest challenge to the occupation army during its aggression on the sector, as the Israeli army fought equipped with elite engineering units and advanced weaponry, combining ground, naval, and air forces in combat.
The occupation army resorted to demolishing entire streets to dismantle this network wherever tunnels were found.
The tunnels used by the Al-Qassam Brigades are divided into security, offensive, defensive, supply, and command tunnels. Still, there are no precise details regarding their number, geographical size, or whether they are interconnected or standalone.
Some of these tunnels penetrate the earth more than 30 meters deep, and in certain cases include a series of layers, one above the other. They are highly equipped and are described by some as a new generation of tunnels.
The resistance also uses a network of tunnel openings in its battles against the occupation forces. These are not complete tunnels but rather ambushes set to intercept intruding forces. This type of tunnel has inflicted significant losses on Israel, both in the northern and southern parts of the sector.
