The Underground City of Tunnels That Is Hamas's Ace Up It's Sleeve
It is located 40 Meters below the surface of the earth.
Oct. 15, 2023 Video in article on TwatX - can't embed
Hamas' "ace up its sleeve" in the event that Israel attacks Gaza, is an underground city, 40 meters below the surface of the earth.
In the densely populated city of Gaza, there is an underground city with tunnels, the so-called "Gaza Metro" .
The tunnels created by Hamas, start from the territory of Gaza and reach Egypt, as characteristically states an article of the French newspaper "Le Figaro".
According to military analysts, the ground attack that Israel is expected to launch has the characteristic of an asymmetric threat, due to the extensive tunnels that exist under the Gaza Strip.
This is because Israeli forces are likely to "fall" into an ambush by Hamas terrorists at any moment due to the existing tunnels.
The Gaza Metro
Underground passages in Gaza are home to weapons caches, Palestinian fighters and possibly Israeli hostages. Some were destroyed by the IDF, but rebuilt over time. The network of underground passages and tunnels crosses the Gaza Strip, Israel and Egypt, which are also used as real secret corridors.
And if it was initially smuggled through the galleries, now it has turned into a real military tool for the Palestinian armed groups. It has heavy armament, including guns, missiles and lots of ammunition.
The surprise attack on Saturday, October 7, in the early hours of the morning, on Israeli soil by thousands of Hamas terrorists proved this. The terrorists of the Palestinian Sunni organization crossed the tunnel with ease.
And while the Israeli army prepares for a major offensive in the Gaza Strip, the underground network could seriously harm the troops of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Arrays of rocket launchers hidden a few meters deep can emerge from a hatch system to detonate and disappear again.
The Israeli army had bombed the Gaza metro in 2021, but part of this network remains unknown to Tel Aviv authorities, which makes its operations difficult.
Hamas "knows its tunnels inside and out," Colin Clark, director of research at the Soufan Center in New York, told AFP.
The tunnels in the tunnel, as the French publication explains, are of different height, width and complexity.
They were originally built to transport contraband products such as cigarettes, milk, clothes, car parts, etc. from Egypt. These underground passages were closely monitored by the Palestinian Authority security services who had blocked access.
But in the early 2000s, Israel stepped up its fight against these tunnels, which it suspected were allowing Palestinians to obtain weapons. After the 2005 withdrawal of Israeli occupiers of the Gaza Strip and the takeover of the territory by Hamas in June 2007, arms smuggling increased.
What Does The Gaza Metro Have?
"It has everything from spare parts for Iranian or Chinese missiles, to anti-aircraft missiles, including tons of explosives, necessary to detonate the rockets fired by Hamas into southern Israel ," the French newspaper said in a 2019 report.
The opening of the tunnels is done in a complex way and is a real operation managed exclusively by Hamas, as the French publication points out.
During several ground operations, mainly in 2006, 2008 and after 2014, as well as during the war in 2021, Israel did everything in its power to destroy the underground network that was built over the course of time and over the years it was turned into a weapons depot and bomb making workshops.
However, Hamas tirelessly continued to build this labyrinth of galleries despite the espionage measures employed by Israeli intelligence.
Sauce: https://warnews247-gr.translate.goog/vinteo-i-ypogeia-poli-me-siranges-pou-apotelei-aso-sto-maniki-tis-chamas/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Sauce: 49 second video: https://twitter.com/officejjsmart/status/1711497534860902412