Middle East
Israel’s army: New details on the tunnel system in Gaza
Israeli soldiers search a tunnel in the Gaza Strip. photo
© Ariel Schalit/AP/dpa
More and more details about Hamas’ tunnel system in the Gaza Strip are becoming public. According to the Israeli military, the underground system had sophisticated infrastructure.
The Israeli military has new insights into the far-reaching Tunnel system of the Islamist Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip published. The army announced on Wednesday that Palestine Square in the center of the city of Gaza plays a crucial role. From there, “offices and apartments of the political and military Hamas leadership” are said to have been accessible underground. The information could not currently be independently verified. On Sunday, the army announced the opening of a network of tunnels in the north.
After the takeover of an area in the city of Gaza, further details of the “strategic tunnel route” were revealed, the army said on Wednesday. In addition to stairs, elevators also made it possible to descend into the underground system. In some cases, food, water and electrical infrastructure were found. “In this way, Hamas terrorists were able to both escape and remain in their hideouts for extended periods of time,” it said.
The tunnel network was reportedly used by the organization’s high-ranking officials, Ismail Haniya, Jihia Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and others, “to control Hamas’s operational activities.” This information could not currently be independently verified.
According to media reports, the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Sinwar, and the head of Hamas’ military wing, Deif, left the northern Gaza Strip during the course of the war. They are reportedly believed to be in the town of Chan Yunis in the south of the coastal area. Haniya, chairman of the Hamas politburo, has lived in Qatar with his family for years.