Warnings and fears are mounting in Israel and its allies in the West about what awaits the occupation army – if it carries out its promise of a ground incursion into… Gaza strip– From the network of tunnels that a recently released prisoner described as a “spider web.”
Reuters quoted informed sources in the West and the region that the resistance factions, led by the Islamic Resistance Movement (agitation), controls various types of tunnels extending under the Gaza Strip, which has an area of 360 square kilometers, including tunnels for attack, smuggling, storage, and operations.
An American official said that the United States believes that the Israeli special forces will face unprecedented dangers, as they will have to engage in combat with resistance men while trying to avoid killing the prisoners detained in the tunnels.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recalled the battle of Iraqi forces with ISIS fighters that lasted 9 months to retake the city of Mosul, saying that it may be easier compared to what the Israeli soldiers are expected to face, as there will likely be “many explosive devices, booby traps, and devastating operations.” truly”.
Although Israel spent a lot on means of detecting tunnels, including an underground barrier equipped with sensors that it called the “iron wall,” security analysts believe that the resistance has tunnels that connect it to the outside world, in light of Israel’s complete control over the air and sea entrances to Gaza.
The land border extends 72 kilometers, 59 kilometers with Israel and 13 kilometers in the south with Egypt, and the tunnels provide one of the few ways for the resistance to bring in weapons, equipment, and personnel, according to Reuters.
Spider Web
Yochbad Lifshitz (85 years old), the Israeli prisoner who was released last week with another prisoner for humanitarian reasons, said that the tunnel network “looked like a spider’s web, so many tunnels. We walked kilometers underground.”
Israeli security sources say that the intense aerial bombardment that came in response to the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation on the 7th of this month caused minor damage to the tunnel infrastructure, as a unit of Hamas’ frogmen was able to launch an attack across the sea this week targeting areas near the cover of the tunnels. Northern Gaza.
Former commander of the occupation army, Amir Avivi, says, “Despite our intense attack for days and days, the (Hamas) leadership remains largely cohesive and is able to direct orders and control, and is even capable of attempting to launch counterattacks.” Avivi held senior positions, including deputy commander of the Gaza Division charged with dealing with the tunnel issue.
Avivi adds, “There is an entire city below Gaza at a depth of between 40 and 50 meters. There are bunkers, headquarters, warehouses, and of course it is connected to more than a thousand missile launching sites.” Other sources estimate the depth of the tunnels at up to 80 metres.
In this context, a Western security source says, “It extends for miles. It is made of concrete and very well. They had plenty of time and a lot of money to dig it. Imagine that it is 10 times the size of the Viet Cong tunnels,” referring to the fighters of the National Front for the Liberation of South Africa. Vietnam.
Chase in the tunnels
For his part, Joel Ruskin, a topography and geologist at the Israeli Bar-Ilan University, says that it is difficult to draw an accurate map of the tunnel network from the surface or space, adding that highly confidential information is necessary in order to draw up a three-dimensional map and imagine the images.
Among the elite units tasked with going underground is the Yahalom Unit, a special forces unit from the Israeli Combat Engineering Corps, which specializes in detecting, evacuating and destroying tunnels.
The Israeli Prime Minister visited Benjamin Netanyahu Earlier this week Yahalom fighters told them, “I’m counting on you. The people of Israel are counting on you.”
Israeli sources said that what awaits them is grave, and that they are facing an enemy that has reorganized itself and learned from previous Israeli operations in 2014 and 2021.
Former Commander of the Combat Engineer Corps, Amnon Sovrin, said, “There will be a lot of mines. They have thermal weapons that they did not have in 2021, and they are more deadly. I think they have acquired a lot of anti-tank weapon systems with which they will hit armored personnel carriers and tanks.”
Soverin – who was also a former head of the field information department at the Israeli intelligence service (Mossad) – added that Hamas will also try to capture soldiers.
