17/12/2023 – 17:41
The structure was four kilometers long and one of its exits was just 400 meters from the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. The Israeli army announced this Sunday (17/12) that it had discovered the largest tunnel of the radical Islamic group Hamas so far in Gaza Strip.
According to Israel, the structure is about four kilometers long and three kilometers high and is 50 meters deep. One of the exits is in Erez, just 400 meters from the border between Israel and the Palestinian enclave.
“Millions of dollars were spent on this tunnel, hundreds of tons of cement and a lot of electricity. Instead of spending all this money, cement or electricity on hospitals, schools, housing or other needs of the inhabitants of Gaza,” said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israeli Army, when showing the tunnel, considered a of the main structures that allowed the attack on October 7th, the trigger for the current conflict.
“This was until now Yahya Sinwar's best-kept secret, but we discovered it and made it public,” said Hagari, referring to the head of the Hamas group inside the Gaza Strip.
Sinwar is considered the mastermind of the October 7 attack, when Hamas militants invaded Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking around 240 hostages. More than 100 captured Israelis and foreigners were released during a seven-day ceasefire last month. Among the hostages still held by Hamas, an estimated 20 are dead.
Underground city
Israel claims that the person who led and supervised the construction of the tunnel revealed this Sunday was Mohamed Sinwar, brother of Yahya Sinwar.
Hamas' complex network of tunnels is considered a key piece in the radical group's strategy and, according to reports, resembles an underground city, even being called “the Gaza metro”. The structures have electricity, ventilation, sewage, communication networks and even roads for vehicle traffic.
The Israeli army assures that, since the beginning of the ground offensive in the Strip, on October 27, numerous tunnels have been found, under hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure, such as the Shifa hospital, in Gaza City.
Hamas used its underground system for the first time to fight against Israel in the 2014 war. At the time, Israeli experts estimated that the number of tunnels would be 1,300. Israel claimed to have destroyed a few hundred kilometers of the tunnel system in 2021. But new underground trails continued to be dug. In the current conflict, Israeli forces say they have found more than 800 tunnel entrances and destroyed a large number of these structures.
To pursue its objective of eliminating the radical Islamic group, Israel plans to pump seawater into the tunnels, which would cause Hamas militants to escape. However, the idea is controversial, as it could also kill hostages, destabilize buildings and impact underground water for many generations.
le (AFP, Lusa, ots)
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