The tunnel system under Gaza poses a serious risk to Israel’s military in war. Before the ground attack, a special unit was to locate the corridors. But how?
TEL AVIV – Danger lurks underground: two men climb down a shaft using a ladder. Then they briefly crawl on the ground – and throw rocket-propelled grenades at an Israeli tank. The scene can be seen in a Hamas propaganda video online. But these attacks can also be real. The extensive tunnel system of pro-Palestinian terrorist fighters can ambush the Israeli Defense Forces in many of the current Middle East wars.
Hamas tunnel system: Special unit searches tunnels under Gaza in Israel’s war
Israel has been at war for weeks. After the Hamas attack on October 7, Israel responded with hundreds of airstrikes. But a ground attack must phase out. But it is dangerous, especially because of the kilometers of tunnel systems. So a special unit has to detect the trenches under Gaza in advance and render them harmless.
“Israel has a lot of experience in finding and destroying mines,” Kobi Michael, director of research at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, told Berliner Now. Daily Mirror. It has been no secret for years that Hamas has dug deep shafts under the Gaza Strip. But the system is changing and becoming more and more complex. Finding and destroying corridors is like a constant game of cat and mouse.
Radar and Sensors: The Jahalom Division can only detect tunnels in the war in Israel
The Jahalom Division is responsible for finding tunnels. According to Michael, there are specialists made up of long-trained engineers and battle-hardened soldiers. They are equipped with ground radar, drilling rigs and hyperspectral sensors that can localize movements underground. Once the unit finds a tunnel, they have a full range of options.
Going into tunnels is a fatal mistake.
Israel’s experts resort to underground fighting only in exceptional cases. Former Deputy Chief of Staff Yair Golan recently confirmed this on Army Radio. “Going into tunnels is a fatal mistake,” he was recently quoted as saying tagesschau.de. It would be wise to “find the tunnel entrances and cover them with smoke or something else – so that the enemy can get out or get hurt.”
Foam, flood or blast: Israel can destroy Hamas mines in different ways
However, the purpose of destroying tunnels is broad. There has always been speculation that sponge bombs are thrown into shafts and, after exploding, they spread a hard foam that seals the inlets. There have also been repeated rumors of flooding in the tunnels. However, another method remains explosive. To break the mines, the Israeli army has its own bunker busting bombs, which first penetrate deep into the ground and then detonate in corridors. The destructive power of this weapon is said to be devastating.
But despite these many alternatives, the risk of an ambush cannot be completely eliminated. Hamas’ tunnel system under Gaza is now too strong for that. Estimates suggest that all the shafts together extend nearly 500 kilometers.
Tunnel system under Palestine: The exact length of the tunnels in the war in Israel is currently disputed.
Daphne Richemond-Barak, an underground warfare expert at Reichmann University in Tel Aviv, considers the information a bit “exaggerated,” as she puts it. The New York Times said. But the tunnels are sure enough to smuggle fighters invisibly into Israeli soil, transport weapons from Egypt to Gaza, and hide command centers underground. Israeli war hostages are believed to be held underground and have storage facilities for weapons, rockets, medicine and food.
War in Israel: Ground assault is considered the most difficult combat operation
However, the special unit cannot disable all of Hamas’ tunnels. “The hard truth is that the depth and extent of Hamas’ tunnels in Gaza exceed Israel’s special capabilities,” the US Institute of Modern Warfare concluded in a recent article on underground facilities. This means that players should still be prepared for an ambush or two during a ground attack.
Former US general David Petraeus warned that the offensive would be “one of the most difficult combat operations since World War II” due to urban warfare in the densely populated Gaza Strip and Hamas’ tunnel system. Daily Mirror. (jfk)
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