There is something about Gaza that makes the war extraordinary. Namely, the tunnels.
The terrorist organization Hamas is fighting Israel from the ground up. A significant number of fighters and probably all their commanders are in the tunnels. In them, Hamas also holds about 130 hostages it still holds, which it kidnapped from Israel in connection with the terrorist attack on October 7.
– The tunnels combined with the urban densely populated area make the battlefield exceptional, says Joel Roskin Yelle in a video interview.
Roskin works as a professor of geology at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv and is one of the best experts on the tunnel network in Gaza.
The graphic below depicts the tunnel network in Gaza. You can move the picture with the arrows.
Tunnels were important even before the current war.
– When the Israeli forces advanced in Gaza, it became clear that the tunnels played a very central role when Hamas was preparing for a terrorist attack, Roskin explains.
Only Hamas knows the exact extent of the labyrinthine tunnel network. According to a recent estimate by a representative of the Israeli military there are even more than 700 kilometers of tunnels on the way, so a lot.
Imagine that around 700 kilometers of tunnels would run under Nurmijärvi municipality, i.e. as long as the crow flies from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. Lake Nurmijärvi and Gaza are the same size, about 360 square kilometers.
Than an underground spider weban Israeli described the tunnel Yocheved Lifschitz, 85, in October. Lifschitz was held hostage by Hamas for 16 days before Hamas released her and another elderly female hostage.
Israel’s goal in the Gaza war is to destroy all of Hamas, but according to many experts following the war, it is unlikely to succeed. The tunnel network prolongs Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
– As the Israeli army has gained control of urban areas, most of Hamas has moved underground. They only come to the surface for a short time and make quick strikes against Israeli soldiers, Roskin explains.
According to Roskin, in parts of Gaza, Israeli soldiers have often not seen Hamas terrorists for days.
– After spotting Israeli troops nearby, the guerillas open the mouth of the tunnel and shoot with a shotgun, Roskin says.
A Hamas fighter pictured in Gaza in May 2023.
There is apparently quite a bit of actual close combat in Gaza. At the same time, a shocking number of civilians have died in the war.
In total, almost 30,000 people have died in the war, according to the Ministry of Health under Hamas. Most of the victims are civilians.
According to the US estimate, Israel would killed 20-30 percent Of the 25,000-30,000 fighters of Hamas. At the most, just under a third of the victims of the war would therefore be combatants based on this estimate.
According to the Israeli army, 225 of its soldiers had died in Gaza by early February.
Israeli soldiers guarded the mouth of a tunnel they discovered in Gaza in December.
Roskin states that civilians in Gaza do not have access to safe tunnels.
– It is sickening that Hamas representatives are alive and safe in the depths. They probably eat quite well there. On the ground, civilians are suffering.
Roskin says in the video that Hamas members are used to living underground for long periods of time.
Tunnel openings are often hidden in buildings
Israel is frantically searching for tunnels and their mouths. In December, the Israeli military said it had found by then 500 tunnel openings.
However, it is estimated that there are ten times as many loopholes.
– We are talking about more than 5,000 tunnel mouths, Roskin says.
Hamas has hidden the openings in buildings or terrain. They are often earned with explosives.
Tunnel openings are often in the basements of public and private buildings. Israel has justified the bombing of hospitals and other civilian targets in densely populated areas by the tunnels beneath them. Hamas has repeatedly denied Israel’s claims.
Israel has also used bulldozers to bulldoze the ruins of bombed buildings to find tunnels.
So what are the tunnels like?
– It’s really cramped in them. The ventilation is insufficient and there is limited light, Roskin describes.
The construction of the tunnel network in Gaza started with the smuggling tunnels dug in Egypt. The first tunnels were built after the Israeli occupation following the 1967 war, and the first large tunnels were dug in Gaza in the early 1980s.
Nowadays, the tunnels branch out and some of them have several floors. They have their own departments for carrying out attacks, weapon and ammunition storage, food and water storage, and logistics. The halls built into the tunnels also have command centers and accommodation for fighters.
In the largest tunnels, you can drive a car and transport heavy equipment. The concrete-reinforced corridors have electricity and communication networks. They also have explosive-resistant doors in case of enemy strikes.
– Everything is necessary in the tunnels. There are toilets, sinks and air conditioning. Hamas fighters are used to being there. If I went into the tunnel, it would be a special experience for me. For them, the tunnel is like a second home.
Of course, Hamas fighters sometimes come out into the open air, for example, through openings in buildings.
Roskin himself last visited the tunnel eliminated from Hezbollah in Lebanon about four years ago.
The most common type of tunnel is about two meters high and just under a meter wide, and it runs at a depth of just under 20 meters. The largest tunnels are three meters in diameter. The deepest tunnels have been dug to 70 meters.
In December, Israel said it had discovered the largest tunnel in Gaza so far. The tunnel, about four kilometers long and three meters in diameter, ran at a depth of 50 meters and reached close to the Israeli border.
Going through the tunnels is slow and dangerous. The army has used robots, drones and dogs in the tunnels it has discovered to find terrorists and explosives. The army has also started pump seawater into the tunnels.
In the video, the Israeli army blows up a tunnel in Gaza.
At some point, Israel may have to admit that destroying them is an impossible task. According to Israeli media that is what is generally thought in the army, but it has not been stated in public.
It is difficult to locate the tunnels, as the ground radars used by Israel reportedly only reach a depth of 15-20 meters. Up to this point up to four fifths of the tunnels has remained intact.
However, Professor Roskin believes that the Israeli military can eliminate enough tunnels.
– When you control the land area, the mouth openings of the tunnels are also under control. The army will eventually be able to suppress everything that happens in the tunnels. It can be done by filling the tunnel with water or by sealing or blowing up the entrances.
According to Roskin, at least Qatar has financed the construction of the tunnel network. The construction of the tunnels has reportedly cost hundreds of millions of euros.
Hamas has used concrete to strengthen the tunnels. According to Israel, construction materials intended for civilian use have been used in the tunnels.
Israel has blockaded Gaza since 2007, and Hamas is not believed to have very large equipment to build tunnels. The diggers have done a lot of work with hand tools and simple tools. Gaza’s soft soil has made this possible.
It has been easy for Hamas to find diggers in Gaza, which has suffered from the Israeli blockade and extreme poverty.
– The poorest are offered double wages for digging tunnels. Then there is a lot of labor available, Roskin explains.
On the other hand, the soil from digging has either been thrown into the sea or has been used in construction work.
An Israeli army soldier shows off the tunnel entrance to the media in Bureij, central Gaza, in January.
When striking the tunnels, Israel has to take into account its own, that is, the hostages kidnapped by Hamas. It is likely that Hamas has placed hostages in various parts of the tunnel network.
According to Israel, some of the hostages are in the command center below the city of Khan Younis. Based on intelligence information, the leader of Hamas would also be in the same destination Yahya Sinwar.
Professor Roskin suspects that it is not possible to save the hostages.
– Most certainly some of them will be killed, unless a miracle happens. Hopefully as many as possible could be saved.