Foreign Policy: There is a new generation of Hamas tunnels… their openings are deadly holes in the ground

The Foreign Policy magazine confirmed that Hamas’ increasing reliance on tunnels in the Gaza Strip and its elaborate construction efforts helped the movement achieve its goals.

The Foreign Policy said that the tunnels led to destabilization of the Israeli forces, caused huge losses, delayed the end of the war and made victory for the Israeli forces relatively distant.

The Foreign Policy pointed out that it has never happened in the history of tunnel warfare that a defender was able to spend months in such narrow places.

The digging itself and the innovative methods used by Hamas for the tunnels and for the movement to remain underground for a long period are unprecedented.

Hamas’s tunnels are Israel’s greatest weakness in the war, and destroying them requires a slow and cumbersome process.

Also, the Israeli Army entered the current war and it possesses the most advanced military capabilities in detecting tunnels, but even the most specialized units in detecting tunnels suffered losses due to booby-trapping the entrances to the tunnels.

What is clear today is that Israel cannot discover or draw a map of the entire Hamas tunnel network.

According to the Foreign Policy magazine, the network, which Hamas fighters use to hide themselves and their prisoners, plan operations, store weapons, and ambush Israeli soldiers, constitutes an important part of the movement’s military infrastructure.

It has proven to be Israel’s greatest weakness in the war, so its destruction is necessary to weaken Hamas’ military capabilities and prevent attacks similar to those carried out by the movement on October 7.

According to the Foreign Policy magazine, with the beginning of the new year, several questions now loom for military planners and analysts seeking to draw lessons, namely: How close is Israel to destroying the tunnel network?

How long will it take its forces to overcome this threat?

Regarding this issue, the Foreign Policy says that tunnel warfare has always been one of the most deadly and complex forms of combat, and during World War I, thousands of British troops died trying to destroy German underground sites.

Likewise, after years, the United States tried to defeat its enemies in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

Foreign Policy said, “Israel learned about combating tunnels the hard way, so the discovery of cross-border tunnels dug by Hamas in 2014 brought back the great security threat they pose”.

The Foreign Policy magazine pointed out that after the 2014 war, Israel shifted to a more strategic approach and intensified its efforts.

It created elite units specialized in tunnel warfare, built its own tunnel structures to train soldiers, improved tunnel detection with mobile units and targeted research and development, came up with unique tactical solutions to enhance readiness, and strengthened cooperation with partners and allies.

As a result, the Israeli army entered the current war possessing the most advanced military capabilities in detecting, mapping, neutralizing and destroying tunnels.

However, this progress didn’t deter Hamas from digging and didn’t reduce the challenge of fighting in an underground environment, and the most specialized Israeli units were exposed to ambushes at the entrance to the tunnels.

The Foreign Policy revealed that the current war has shown that there is a new generation of Hamas tunnels.

The current networks are deeper and more solid, and resemble the large infiltration tunnels in North Korea, as Hamas used advanced drilling techniques and transferred its underground capabilities to the next level.

According to the Foreign Policy magazine, the openings of the tunnels built by Hamas are essentially deadly holes in the ground; They vary in size and shape and are usually camouflaged and booby-trapped.

They lead to tunnel shafts, which is part of the subterranean structure used to penetrate deep into the ground and reach a wider network of tunnels.

During the Israeli sweeping operations, soldiers uncovered hundreds of tunnel holes, which made progress complicated.

These openings also enabled Hamas fighters to emerge from the ground to fire automatic weapons or rocket launchers at Israeli forces.

The most valuable thing in this war is time, as forces operate in a complex military environment that combines urban warfare, tunnel warfare, and search and rescue operations, which requires locating the rest of the tunnels, working around booby traps, and avoiding surprise attacks.

Therefore, the tunnels destabilized the Israeli forces, caused heavy losses, and delayed the end of the war.

Indeed, it became clear that Israel couldn’t discover or draw a map of the entire Hamas tunnel network.

In order for Israel to declare that it has achieved its war goals, it must first destroy at least two-thirds of Hamas’ underground infrastructure.

The Foreign Policy magazine concluded its report by saying: While Israel moves to destroy the network of underground Hamas tunnels, the forces remain under fire, and additional tunnels are discovered every day.

This mission may take a few more months to complete, as in tunnel warfare, which requires endurance and time, and perseverance, ending the war prematurely may mean defeat.

To avoid such an outcome, Israel’s ability to determine its timetable is essential.