Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Wall Street Journal reported on January 28 that after more than three months of fighting, as much as 80 percent of Hamas’s tunnel system beneath Gaza could still remain intact.
The report cites Israeli and US officials, and notes that it is difficult to assess how much of the tunnel network has been destroyed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) so far.
A vast network of tunnels used for smuggling and warfare purposes exists under Gaza. The underground tunnel network allows Hamas and other Palestinian armed factions to store and shield weapons, gather and move underground, communicate, train, launch offensive attacks, transport hostages, and retreat without being detected by the IDF. This network of tunnels is colloquially referred to as the Gaza metro.
According to The Wall Street Journal, some of the tunnels have been bombed, while others have been flooded by the IDF. Despite this, progress is slow as underground passages must be mapped and checked for booby traps and hostages before Israeli forces can destroy them.
The newspaper cited Israeli officials who said that the Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar is believed to be in a command center in a tunnel under Khan Younis, along with some of the Israeli hostages taken during the October 7 attacks.
Earlier this month it was reported by The New York Times that senior Israeli defense officials now assess that the Gaza metro network is between 350 and 450 kilometers long. This estimate is markedly higher than an IDF assessment last month that there are some 250 miles of Hamas tunnels under the Strip.
Fighters of Hamas and other armed factions are still moving with much freedom in most of the Strip, which backs The Wall Street Journal and confirms that the Gaza metro is still functioning.
Destroying the Gaza metro was one of the mian stated goals of the Israeli war on Gaza. The IDF has so far failed to achieve this or any of its other goals. None of the Israeli hostages in the Strip have been freed by Israeli troops so far and Hamas’ rocket arsenal is yet to be destroyed.
