MUCH OF HAMAS TUNNEL NETWORK IN GAZA STILL IN ‘GOOD FUNCTIONAL STATE’

Thu 11 July 2024:

After nine months of war, much of Hamas’s tunnel network in the Gaza Strip is still in a “good functional state” in many parts of the besieged enclave, and the Palestinian group still has the capacity to organize attacks close to the border with Israel and possibly even across it, Channel 12 news reported, citing a recently written the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) assessment.

The Hamas tunnels are in good shape in Central Gaza, most of Rafah in the South, and Shejaiya in the North, according to the TV report.

In Khan Younis, in the South of the blockaded strip, many tunnels that were targeted by the IDF have been fixed up, as have the factories in the area that produce the concrete to build the tunnels.

Even though the IDF has been focused on tackling Hamas in Rafah in recent weeks, functional tunnels in the area enable Hamas to get close to the border with the occupied territories, and only a few routes have been destroyed on the Philadelphi Route along the Gaza-Egypt border, the report added.

Tunnels in Gaza City are in a medium to good state, and enable Hamas to gain proximity to the border, it said.

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Overall, were the war to end now, the report noted, “Hamas still has the capacity and capability to organize an incursion close to the border and perhaps even across it, [albeit] not on the scale of the past.”

Senior Israeli defense officials in January assessed that Hamas’s Gaza tunnel network was between 350 and 450 miles long, an astounding figure given that the enclave is only some 140 square miles in total size.

Israel has been carrying out heavy bombardment across the Gaza Strip since early October 2023.

Almost 38,200 Palestinians have been killed and nearly the entire population has been displaced. Nearly 88,000 people have also been wounded, according to health officials.

The figures exclude tens of thousands of dead who are believed to be buried in the bombed-out ruins of homes, shops, shelters, and other buildings.

The military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.

Human rights organizations have warned that thousands of people in the besieged enclave are facing the risk of famine amid ongoing Israeli devastating onslaught.

In late May, US intelligence sources told Politico only 30 to 35 percent of Hamas fighters have been killed after months of Israel’s military operations against the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip.

According to Politico, the majority of fighters who were members of the Palestinian movement prior to the October 7 attack are still alive.

In addition, around 65 percent of Hamas’ tunnel infrastructure remains intact, Politico’s sources stated, and thousands of new members are said to have been recruited to the group in recent months.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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