IDF uncovers ‘complex’ 4.3-mile Hamas tunnel network in Gaza’s south

[Twiglets1]

The IDF said on Thursday it had uncovered one of the largest and most complex Hamas tunnel networks found so far in Gaza, a route stretching more than 4.3 miles and descending roughly 82 feet. A video of the tunnel is available to watch on X and on various websites including JNS in the link below.

The underground route, which the military said ran under “a densely populated Rafah neighborhood and through an UNRWA compound, mosques, clinics, kindergartens and schools,” included 80 hideouts.

Defence Minister Israel Katz tweeted on Thursday, “This is the tunnel where Lt. Hadar Goldin was held. More than 8 kilometers and 80 (!) bedrooms.

“We must destroy the underground terror city that Hamas built in Gaza. The IDF is working non-stop to carry out the mission,” continued Katz, who added, “Until the last tunnel.”

“The major challenge for Israel after the [first] stage of returning the hostages will be the destruction of all of Hamas’s terror tunnels in Gaza, both directly by the IDF and through the international mechanism that will be established under U.S. leadership and oversight,” Katz tweeted.

“This is the primary meaning of implementing the agreed principle of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip and disarming Hamas,” wrote the defence minister. “I have instructed the IDF to prepare to carry out the mission.”

www.jns.org/idf-uncovers-complex-4-3-mile-hamas-tunnel-network-in-gazas-south/

Also reported in Ynet (with video of tunnel):

According to the IDF, the tunnel is “one of the most significant and complex underground routes exposed to date in the Gaza Strip.” It stretches more than 7 kilometers (4.5 miles) and lies roughly 25 meters (80 feet) below the surface. The tunnel runs beneath a densely populated residential neighborhood near the Philadelphi Corridor, which stretches along the Gaza-Egypt border, and winds through sensitive civilian areas, including a UN compound, mosques, clinics, kindergartens and schools.

www.ynetnews.com/article/b1auuyaebl

Good news in that least it has been found and can be destroyed. I would love to know how people think these labyrinthine complexes can be destroyed with destruction above ground.

Yes I'm pleased that more of these tunnels are being discovered now, especially one as significant as this one.

How much aid money got siphoned into building these monstrous underground tunnels that helped the people of Gaza not one bit?

The ceasefire is proving to be hugely beneficial to the IDF in being able to discover & destroy more of the underground tunnel network. Without the tunnels to escape to & keep weapons in, Hamas will lose a big part of their advantage.

Maybe in rebuilding the rubble could be used to fill the tunnels? Then rebuilding of homes, schools and hospitals could happen on the surface.

Its a very complex structural engineering problem I should think. No idea how it works!

All that money and ingenuity could have been put to more beneficial use for Gazans I think.

Mind blowing really.

It is really sad. Gaza could be flourishing. Hamas are still there and with them still there things just won't improve.

I’m so cynical about the various authorities that try and help Palestinians now- UN etc. They have, perhaps unwittingly, just siphoned money to Hamas to arm and militarise the area, doing fuck all for all the women and kids in rubble shown in the pictures.

Useful idiots everywhere.

I agree. It feels like the aid system needs a total overall to ensure it reaching women and children in the form of food, medical supplies and things they need first. It's vital that urgent items like this are first priority and get through to them on a continuous basis.

“We must destroy the underground terror city that Hamas built in Gaza. The IDF is working non-stop to carry out the mission,” continued Katz, who added, “Until the last tunnel.”
“The major challenge for Israel after the [first] stage of returning the hostages will be the destruction of all of Hamas’s terror tunnels in Gaza, both directly by the IDF and through the international mechanism that will be established under U.S. leadership and oversight,” Katz tweeted.

Why are Israel destroying anything in Gaza? Surely the idea is Israel withdraws from Palestine and lets them find their feet, not they carry on bombing, demolishing and killing on Palestinian land? How is this any progress at all?

How can there be any progress if Hamas maintains its terror network of tunnels? Even if Hamas goes someone else would take them over. Think about what the tunnels were used for? How would ordinary palestinians feel secure if they knew terrorists were continuing to operate under their hones, schools, hospitals and mosqurs? The tunnels are one of the key reasons for the level of destruction in the war.

The only reason for the level of destruction was the Israelis raining down bombs and blowing up neighbourhoods. Anyone living next to a country that could ever contemplate doing such a thing is surely going to have underground tunnels, and shelters. It’s really hard to understand why any country would behave as Israel has been, not just in Gaza but its behaviour throughout the region.

Have the tunnels ever been used as shelters? For the civilians, that is.

so comically wrong

so comically wrong

This is objectively, categorically untrue! Of course the tunnels played a part in the nature and level of destruction. As for the second half of your post the most generous thing I can say is it takes no account whatsoever of the number of attacks and levels of internal terrorist activity perpetrated against Israel and the degree of external orchestration of attacks on Israel Its ridiculously unbalanced and also odd when Israel's enemies have hardly been shy about their intentions.

@TomeTomethose tunnels are a weapon of war. They can’t be allowed to remain, as that would allow terrorism to regroup and grow strong enough to continue their efforts from the river to the sea.

Their investment in destroying Israel has far outweighed their investment in Palestinians. Palestinians have not been protected by those tunnels. Terrorists have.

@TomeTomewhere have you read the tunnels were used as shelters by civilians?

My comment was deleted so I'm put it more gently.

All the destruction and pain of the past two years would be in vain if tunnels and Hamas infrastructure is allowed to remain intact.

I'll*

One UN relief agency for the whole of the rest of the world: 16,000 staff. One for Palestine: 30,000 staff.

They also had 36 hospitals for a population of 2,3 million. With one of the world’s youngest population it’s very odd. Don’t know how quickly one could drive across Gaza but as it’s a tiny space surely one large hospital with a few specialist hospitals and both general and specialist clinics would cover all medical needs. For context, Norway has 27 hospitals for its population of just under 6 million and the hospitals are geographically dispersed across the country with a landmass the size of the UK. Many have more than an hours drive to get to an hospital. Always struck me as very odd that Gaza had 36.

London has (according to Wikipedia) 77 NHS hospital sites, plus however many private units. That’s for a population of 8 million and a similar population density.

And I wouldn’t imagine Hamas’s strategic healthcare planning could have been optimal. It’s hardly likely to be a designated terrorist organisation’s strongest skill.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:NHS_hospitals_in_London