The Israel-Hamas Tunnel War Will Be Like No Other

After her release from two weeks of Hamas captivity, 85-year-old Yochaved Lifshitz described being marched for several kilometers underground by her captors through “a giant system of tunnels, like spiderwebs.” Few other Israelis had seen the Gaza Strip’s storied tunnel complex, but many are now going to get the chance.

Israeli Defense Forces that pressed several miles into Gaza beginning last Friday are forced to contend with a sophisticated labyrinth of underground tunnels and bunkers constructed over several decades by Hamas, hiding fighters, weapons, and more than 200 Israeli hostages. The elaborate system is believed to extend for hundreds of miles and, in some locations, lies several hundred feet below ground. Military experts who have studied Hamas call the tunnels a formidable defensive system that would be incredibly costly for Israeli troops to neutralize, even after several weeks of heavy bombardment targeting the network.

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