Hamas-Israel War: The Tunnel War Begins
By Brian Glyn Williams
November 04, 2023
The Tunnel War Begins as Israeli “Weasels” Take on Hamas’ “Rats” in the Notorious Gaza Metro
According to both Hamas and Israel, the much dreaded, or anticipated depending on your perspective, battle for the extensive defensive tunnel network beneath Gaza known locally as the “Gaza Metro” has begun. Israel announced on October 29th that the I.D.F. (Israeli Defense Forces) attacked Hamas gunmen in a tunnel and destroyed Hamas fighters who emerged from a tunnel to attack their position in northwest Gaza. Remarkably, Hamas has posted a video of what appears to be the same attack from the vantage point of fighters moving across a sandy beach towards the Israelis. While not spectacular, the Israelis have also posted a video on You Tube titled “IDF Fighting Fierce Battle in Hamas Tunnels” featuring images of its Merkava tank-backed troops assaulting Hamas’ underground labyrinth with earth excavation hoes, drills, remote cameras, and tantalizing brief footage of IDF forces operating in a concrete reinforced tunnels. And on November 1st, even as the IDF announced that its forces were now “at the gates of Gaza city,” Hamas posted a video shot from a helmet cam of a fighter emerging from a tunnel to fire an R.P.G. (Rocket Propelled Grenade) which exploded on an Israeli tank.
Prior to this, Israel’s attacks on the tunnel system seem to have been carried out from the air via laser guided bunker buster bombs with deep penetrating warheads and delayed fuses to enable them to blow up underground. These most likely include U.S. supplied 5,000 pound deep penetration GBU 28s which have been dropped on suspected Hamas barracks, command and control centers, tunnels and ammo depots, often leading to the spectacular collapse of buildings on top of them. But it was inevitable that the Israelis’ “standoff” aerial approach would be replaced by close quarter fighting in the deadly underground passages if the IDF wanted to achieve its goal which Netanyahu has stated is that “All [Hamas] operatives must die, above ground, underground, inside Gaza and outside.” With little fanfare, the most difficult and dangerous phase of Israel’s Operation Swords of Iron, the subterranean war, thus appears to have commenced as the Israelis move from the beaches and fields of the northern Gaza strip into Gaza city itself. This article will assess what this impending underground battle for a city beneath a city holds in store for both Hamas and Israel.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2023/11/04/hamas-israel_war_the_tunnel_war_begins_990588.html
