In Gaza, the underground battle between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters within the tunnels is about to start

The Israel Protection Forces have introduced that they’ve reached the outskirts of Gaza City and are expecting to enter the city soon.

When that occurs, Israeli troops will start a harmful new part of the army marketing campaign in opposition to Hamas fighters in a densely populated city terrain that features carefully packed buildings above floor and a troubling maze of tunnels beneath.

Till now, Israel’s marketing campaign in opposition to Hamas appears to have been primarily carried out from the air, together with through laser-guided bunker-buster bombs, that are armed with deep-penetrating warheads and delayed fuses to allow them to explode underground.

However on Oct. 29, 2023, the Israel Protection Forces stated its troops had attacked Hamas gunmen in a tunnel and killed Hamas fighters who emerged from a tunnel to assault their positions in northwest Gaza.

Hamas subsequently posted a video of what appears to be the same attack from the angle of certainly one of its fighters, shifting throughout a sandy seaside to strike the Israelis.

And on Nov. 5, 2023, Israel reported that three Hamas fighters emerged from a hidden tunnel and ambushed Israeli troops behind what its forces had thought had been the entrance strains.

I studied tunnel warfare throughout my fieldwork in Iraq, the place the Islamic State group created an unlimited underground tunnel fortress of their protection of the town of Mosul. And I’ve analyzed the Germans’ underground tunnel and sewer “rattenkrieg,” or “rat battle,” fought to defeat the Soviets in one of many largest city battles in historical past, the 1942-43 Battle of Stalingrad.

These and different historic battles train one essential lesson: Tunnel warfare tends to minimize many benefits a stronger, extra superior attacker may in any other case anticipate – and to favor the defenders hidden underground.

Hamas plans a entice beneath floor

From information stories, researchers and each Israeli and Hamas sources, it appears clear that Hamas has systematically constructed a posh underground metropolis fortified with robust defenses beneath Gaza.

Yehia Sinwar, Hamas’ political chief, has claimed that the militant group has dug 310 miles (500 kilometers) of tunnels underneath the Gaza Strip. Hostages from this battle and previous ones have offered eyewitness accounts of being held in this vast underground tunnel complex.

The Israeli army has an internet site devoted to what it calls “the underground metropolis of terror,” by which it claims Hamas has constructed the concrete-reinforced passageways with development supplies stolen from international donations meant to help the folks of Gaza. The United Nations has alleged Hamas has stolen numerous humanitarian provides, but it surely has additionally walked back those allegations.

Israel says lots of the entrances to the tunnels are “hidden between schools, mosques, hospitals and other civilian buildings.” In 2014, Israeli forces even reported discovering a tunnel entrance hidden in a washing machine in a Palestinian home.

Hamas fighters have reportedly lined the tunnels with transport rails to maneuver rockets to areas the place they are often launched from firing pads hid by entice doorways. Hamas’ tunnelers have additionally apparently constructed sleeping areas, air flow and resupply shafts, medical services and command facilities. There are additionally storage areas stated to carry meals for a siege, gasoline, weapons and ammunition – and even areas to manufacture rockets. This superior tunnel community is all reportedly interconnected by a wired telephone system, and guarded by mines and booby traps.

Even when solely a few of these claims are true, it’s clear that Hamas has constructed a formidable subterranean fortress beneath Gaza Metropolis that’s meant to be a trap for the Israelis in addition to a refuge for Hamas.

Israel’s plans to defeat the tunnel fortress

Israeli forces have encountered these tunnels earlier than.

In 2013, for instance, Israeli troops unearthed a particularly large invasion tunnel that started practically three-quarters of a mile (1 km) contained in the Gaza border, and was 72 ft (22 meters) deep. It burrowed underneath the border wall and was detected practically 60 ft (18 meters) beneath the floor 1,000 ft (300 meters) inside Israel.

In 2014, Israeli troops fought underground throughout a 51-day ground invasion of Gaza waged to destroy a few of the tunnels. Throughout that marketing campaign, Israeli troops were surprised by the requirements of tunnel warfare, in response to an evaluation by the Rand Company assume tank. They had trouble finding, preventing in and destroying what they got here to name the “Gaza metro.”

Since that have, Israel has created a special tunnel-warfare unit, referred to as Samur, which interprets as “weasels” in Hebrew, that’s educated particularly to combat underground.

The Samur unit has been working for years to develop sensors that may detect underground tunnels, booby traps and explosives.

The troops have additionally developed ground-penetrating radar to identify tunnels.

And after they discover a tunnel, they will destroy or seal its entrance with specialised weapons referred to as “sponge bombs.” These don’t have any explosives however as an alternative comprise rapidly increasing foam that hardens like concrete to seal off passages.

The Samur unit additionally has specifically educated army canine that may detect explosives in the tunnels and assault opposing troops.

The tunnel corps troops are taught to function mobile robots equipped with cameras that may discover tunnels, relay photos again and detonate booby traps with out risking human lives.

Those that are chosen for this unit are reportedly troopers who can tolerate the tunnels’ oppressive environment. Situations within the underground passages are stated to be “dark, terrifying and claustrophobic,” with “ghosts” popping out of the darkness to assault.

Israel’s troops prepare for city fight, together with in tunnels, at a mock-up Palestinian city on a army base situated within the Negev Desert. In addition they use virtual reality environments constructed from digital scans of precise tunnels found in earlier army operations to coach their troops for subterranean warfare.

In keeping with an Oct. 20, 2023, Congressional Research Service report, it’s probably that a few of these services and applied sciences had been paid for by American taxpayers, as a part of US$320 million in U.S. army funding meant for U.S.-Israel collaboration on “detecting, mapping, and neutralizing underground tunnels that threaten both nation.”

However all this follow and preparation might not be sufficient. Harel Chorev, a Palestinian historian at Tel Aviv College’s Moshe Dayan Heart for Center Japanese and African Research, has stated, “Nobody really knows what’s underground. I don’t see Israeli troopers with the ability to storm these tunnels.”

However as Israeli troops put together to plunge into the densely packed coronary heart of Gaza Metropolis in an effort to occupy the town above floor, they’ll probably find yourself preventing in a harmful metropolis beneath floor, too.

This text is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, impartial information group bringing you details and evaluation that will help you make sense of our complicated world.

It was written by: Brian Glyn Williams, UMass Dartmouth.

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Brian Glyn Williams doesn’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or group that may profit from this text, and has disclosed no related affiliations past their educational appointment.