The tunnel network in the Gaza Strip played a prominent role in inflicting heavy losses on Israel in lives and military equipment after 100 days of fierce battles in the first tunnel war of the 21st century.
The Al-Qassam Brigades – the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) – resorted to the tunnel network after Israel left no option on the ground in light of the stifling siege imposed, according to a report by journalist Salam Khader, broadcast by Tel Aviv Tribune.
Hamas took the initiative to dig, construct and equip a network of tunnels – according to the report – as part of a defensive and offensive combat strategy in preparation for the first tunnel war of the 21st century, inspired by the Kochi Tunnel in Vietnam, an experiment on which it was built after it turned into a real nightmare for the American army.
In the same context, Israel is suffering from the Gaza tunnels despite sending specialized engineering units to deal with them, as well as resorting to various methods to neutralize their danger, such as bombing with bombs that have the ability to penetrate 15 meters of soil.
According to the report, the tunnel network used by the Qassam Brigades is divided into security, attack, defense, supply, and command tunnels, some of which reach a depth of 30 meters, and some of which consist of a series of highly equipped layers.
The tunnel mouths turned into death ambushes, inflicting heavy losses on the occupation forces penetrating into various areas of the Gaza Strip.
It should be noted that the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the Israeli army was surprised by the size of the tunnel network in Gaza, after it appeared to be about 600% larger than expected.
