Israel was only able to destroy 20-40% of Hamas tunnels

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have so far managed to destroy between 20% and 40% of the tunnels built by the Palestinian movement Hamas beneath the surface of the Gaza Strip, The Wall Street Journal reported this Sunday. citing US and Israeli officials familiar with the matter.

According to Israel, Hamas uses a network of countless tunnels to store weapons and ammunition, as well as to hide and protect its fighters and leaders. Tel Aviv also assures that from these structures the members of the group have been able to carry out maneuvers in the Palestinian enclave without being exposed to IDF attacks.

Israeli officials explained to WSJ that their country has prioritized hindering Hamas’s ability to use these tunnels, in an attempt to capture its top leaders and rescue hostages taken by the group who have not yet been released.

The authorities of the Hebrew country have considered various methods to render the tunnels inoperable, such as flooding them with water from the Mediterranean Sea or raiding them with highly trained soldiers.

However, US and Israeli officials said they have experienced difficulties in accurately determining the level of destruction of the tunnels, largely because their extent is unknown. In 2021, Hamas claimed to have built tunnels around 500 kilometers long, although it is not known if this figure was accurate.

American and Israeli respondents indicated that up to 80% of the tunnels remained intact despite Israel’s efforts to destroy them, thereby hampering their primary objectives.

On the other hand, US officials detailed that Israel has specialized units to destroy the tunnels, although it does not have troops to carry out the rescue of the hostages or to eliminate the Hamas leaders.

An Israeli deponent maintained that some of the hostages remain in a command center below the city of Khan Younis, so a military incursion there could endanger the lives of those held. The top Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, is also believed to be at this site. «It is a very hard mission. It is done slowly, with great care. “It is an urban war that is not seen worldwide,” he said. With RT

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