What are the tunnels built by Hamas that make up the Gaza “metro” like? | INFOGRAPHIC

In 2021, Hamas announced that it had built around 500 kilometers of tunnels under the Gaza Strip. Nicknamed Gaza’s “subway,” this intricate underground network is not used to transport food or people, but to smuggle weapons from Egypt and for members of the extremist group to infiltrate the territory. Israeli seeking to perpetrate attacks like those recorded on October 7th.

TO LOOK: At least 4,137 dead in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli bombings

Construction of the network reportedly began in the early 2000s and despite Hebrew efforts to destroy them, they have been renewed frequently. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fear that this network will serve to hide hostages captured during the terrorist attacks that began the current war in the area two weeks ago.

According to Israel, Hamas camouflages the tunnel entrances in residential areas, schools or mosques.

These tunnels would also play a fundamental role in circumventing the land, sea and air blockade imposed by Israel on the Palestinian enclave since 2007, when Hamas wrested control from the Palestinian National Authority. It should be noted that Egypt also maintains a land blockade on Gaza, because in Cairo there is fear that the Muslim Brotherhood (an organization very close to Hamas) will strengthen itself in its territory.

“We could say that the tunnel network has been a lifeline for Hamas for many years, especially since the blockade in 2007. Without the tunnels it would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, for Hamas to survive and manage living conditions in Gaza from over 2 million people”, Khaled el Haroub, professor specializing in Middle Eastern studies at Qatar’s Northwest University and author of several books on Hamas, recently explained to BBC Mundo.

The budget that Hamas allocated for the construction of this entire network of tunnels is unknown, but its critics claim that tons of concrete were allocated for this purpose, which arrived in the enclave in the form of humanitarian aid; On the other hand, the money invested in this infrastructure could have been used to build anti-aircraft shelters or improve the enclave’s services.

At a military level, the tunnels represent a huge advantage for Hamas, as they allow it to bypass sophisticated Israeli aerial equipment, such as helicopters or drones, in addition to making it practically immune to many of the bombings. The latter is mainly explained by the depth at which the roads reach, necessary to overcome the border wall which is 6 meters high, 6 meters deep and has expensive technological sensors.

Aware of the risk these tunnels pose, the IDF has organized several operations aimed specifically at destroying these tunnels. In 2014, for example, after armed men entered Israel from Gaza at least five times, the IDF carried out Operation Protective Edge, in which they destroyed 32 tunnels used by Hamas.

In 2021, in a new operation called Guardian of the Walls, Jewish forces destroyed more than a hundred kilometers of tunnels dug under Gaza, Rafah and Khan Yunis.

It is estimated that the imminent ground military operation announced by Israel in Gaza will have as one of its main objectives once again affecting the tunnel network, especially due to Jewish suspicions that they would be used to hide the hostages kidnapped on October 7th.

Israeli authorities have warned that the land phase could last between 7 months and a year in a good scenario and that it could be prolonged up to several years if complications arise, so it is assumed that they plan to completely do away with the “metro”. of Lace. It is not a simple task, as they can end up becoming deadly traps.

“Gaza is a trap that no military wants to enter“, assured the BBC the director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, Eitan Shamir.

!function(e,n,i,s){var d=”InfogramEmbeds”;var o=e.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];if(window[d]&&window[d].initialized)window[d].process&&janela[d].process();else if(!e.getElementById(i)){var r=e.createElement(n);r.async=1,r.id=i,r.src=s,o.parentNode.insertBefore (r,o)}}(document,”script”,”infogram-async”,”https://infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js”);

Source: Elcomercio

jack

I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.