2023-12-03 22:00:00
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The Israeli army reports the destruction of hundreds of Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip. And Israel is renewing accusations against the radical Islamist terrorist militia.
Gaza – The war in Israel has been dragging on for weeks. Now the Israeli army is reportedly announcing significant progress in the fight against the radical Islamist Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas.
War in Israel: Israeli army allegedly finds and destroys hundreds of Hamas tunnels
Specifically: Like the military loudly dpa announced this Sunday (December 3rd), the armed forces of the Middle East state say they have found more than 800 tunnel shafts in the Gaza Strip – and destroyed around 500 of them.
Some of the tunnel shafts connected strategic Hamas facilities underground, according to a press release from Tel Aviv. The information cannot be independently verified. According to the army, the tunnel shafts were located in civilian residential areas, sometimes next to schools, kindergartens or mosques.
This Israeli army drone footage purports to show the entrance to a Hamas tunnel at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. © IMAGO/ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES
The Israeli army renewed its accusation that Hamas was using civilian infrastructure as a shield against bombardments. The terrorist militia has always rejected this. There are said to be kilometers of tunnels, especially under Gaza City, in which Hamas is said to hide weapons and provisions and maintain entire shelters. Military experts and the Israeli army alike are warning of ambushes in the underground network.
Experts speculate: Hamas’s tunnel system extends over 400 kilometers in the Gaza Strip
Tel Aviv has so far kept quiet about how many Israeli soldiers have lost their lives since the invasion of the Gaza Strip, which is around 45 kilometers long and 6 to 14 kilometers wide. “This is the most complicated mission that a modern army has to cope with in our time,” said Hamas expert Mossab Hassan Yousef in an interview with the US broadcaster CNN. “This tunnel system is estimated to be 400 kilometers long. (…) It consists of very sophisticated tunnels where entire cars can be transported, including fighters, weapons and luxury goods,” said Peter Neumann, terrorism expert King’s College London, explained to ZDF. According to his research, Hamas’ tunnel system is about as big as the London Underground.
There is additional oxygen, air filters, everything needed to stay underground for a long time. We know that they even use motorbikes inside the tunnels.
“We know it’s a network of dozens of kilometers. Hamas is trying to scare us by saying there are 500 kilometers of underground tunnels. What is certain is that we are talking about an immense and extensive tunnel system, interconnected, that has two goals: From there you can fight and defend yourself against attacks. Hamas has invested billions of US dollars there,” explained Harel Chorev, military and Middle East expert at the Moshe Dayan Center in Tel Aviv, to ARD’s “Tagesschau”. According to his research, some of the tunnels are 40 meters underground.
Hamas terrorists reportedly even use motorcycles in the tunnels
“The Hamas people can move easily there. There is additional oxygen, air filters, everything that is needed to stay underground for a long time,” said Chorev, also listing food storage facilities, an underground water supply and its own power grid. “And we know that they even use motorcycles inside the tunnels,” he said.
War in Israel: The History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict
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On the Israeli side, the so-called Jahalom unit is responsible for locating the Hamas tunnels. According to Kobi Michael, the head of research, they belong to Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, engineers and battle-hardened soldiers. They are equipped with ground radar, drilling equipment and hyperspectral sensors with which they can localize movements underground.
Against Hamas tunnels in Gaza: Israel is probably using GBU-28 bunker-busting bombs
GBU-28 bunker-busting bombs are probably used to destroy the tunnels. The bomb is dropped over the target area by fighter jets and first hits the earth up to 30 meters deep under laser guidance before detonating with full force underground. The 2.3-ton projectiles can be loaded with up to 550 kilograms of explosives. There is also repeated speculation that the Israeli army is flooding tunnels or allowing smoke to flow into them in order to lure Hamas fighters to the surface. And then fight them on this one. (pm)
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