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The IDF's Campaign inside Hamas Tunnels

(Ynet News) Ron Ben-Yishai - When the IDF began incursions into Gaza City, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his comrades fled from the subterranean Hamas command centers of northern Gaza to the compounds in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza where they likely remain. Now, IDF special forces are pursuing the group in the labyrinth of branching tunnels while the Hamas leadership flees and remains in constant motion with Israeli hostages as their human shields. The main tunnel facilities are located beneath hospitals, schools, mosques, clinics and UN facilities. The tunnel network in Khan Yunis is the largest of all, not only because it's the home base of Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, but also because the terrain in southern Gaza, geologically, is more conducive to digging, with tunnels deeper and wider than in northern Gaza. At the outset of the war, the IDF specifically avoided engaging in direct combat within the tunnels, concerned about the risks. The IDF later concluded that if they wanted to neutralize Hamas' leadership, there was a need to fight within the tunnel network. In the end, the IDF developed methods to detect the enemy from a distance and advance inside the tunnels without being detected. In one instance in Khan Yunis, IDF fighters surprised militants underground, awakened them from their sleep, and subdued them. In another case, IDF soldiers reached a blast door and successfully opened it. Behind it were three terrorists who surrendered.
2024-02-08 00:00:00
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