Palestinian tunnel warfare in the Gaza Strip

Use of tunnels for military operations in the Gaza Strip

Not to be confused with Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels.

An Israeli soldier overlooking an uncovered Palestinian tunnel in the Gaza Strip during 2014 Gaza War

A vast network of underground tunnels used for smuggling and warfare exists in the Gaza Strip. This infrastructure runs throughout the Gaza Strip and towards Egypt and Israel, and has been developed by Hamas and other Palestinian military organizations to facilitate the storing and shielding of weapons; the gathering and moving of fighters, including for training and communication purposes; the launching of offensive attacks against Israel; and the transportation of Israeli hostages. On several occasions, Palestinian militants have also used this tunnel network, which is colloquially referred to as the Gaza metro,[1][2][3]‌ to infiltrate Israel and Egypt while masking their presence and activities within the Gaza Strip itself. According to Iranian military officer Hassan Hassanzadeh, who commands the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from Tehran, the Gaza Strip's tunnels run for more than 500 kilometres (310 mi) throughout the territory.[4]

## Size and dimensions

[edit]

The total size and dimensions of the Palestinian tunnel network in the Gaza Strip is unknown, with all parties involved keeping the details classified.[5][6][7] In 2016, Ismail Haniyeh, the former Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority and later Chairman of the Hamas Government, indicated that the tunnel network was double the size of the Củ Chi tunnels, which were developed by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.[5] Citing a private briefing in February 2015, Daniel Rubinstein wrote that Israel discovered 100 kilometres (62 mi) of tunnels during the 2014 Gaza War, one-third of which intruded upon Israeli territory;[8] Ynet's Alex Fishman reported the same figure in 2017.[9] Haaretz reporter Yaniv Kubovich reported in June 2021 that Hamas had constructed "hundreds of kilometers of tunnels the length and breadth of the Gaza Strip" after some of them were damaged during Operation Guardian of the Walls.[10]

Animation by the Israel Defense Forces depicting an aspect of the Gazan tunnel network used primarily by Hamas, 2021

The tunnel system runs beneath many Gazan towns and cities, such as Khan Yunis, Jabalia and the Shati refugee camp.[11] Typically, tunnel access points are hidden inside buildings, such as private homes or mosques, or camouflaged by brush, which impedes their detection via aerial imaging or drones.[12][13] According to Eyal Weizman, "most tunnels have several access points and routes, starting in several homes or in chicken coops, joining together into a main route, and then branching off again into several separate passages leading into buildings on the other side."[12] During the 2014 Gaza War the IDF encountered "complex tunnels, with a number of entry and exit shafts", and "[t]he main tunnel was often split, and sometimes there were parallel routes."[14] The tunnels are usually 20 to 30 m (66 to 98 ft) beneath the surface.[15][16] On average, each tunnel is approximately 2 m (6.6 ft) high by 1 m (3.3 ft) wide, and equipped with lights, electricity, and sometimes tracks for transporting materials.[13] The tunnels are often booby trapped with improvised explosive devices.[13]

An IDF engineering officer tasked with locating tunnels told Haaretz that three tunnels discovered in 2013 opened the Israelis' eyes to proportions of the network.[17] The engineering officer described "wide tunnels, with internal communication systems that had been dug deep beneath the surface and the sides were reinforced with layers of concrete" in which "[y]ou could walk upright in them without any difficulty."[17] An Israeli army spokesman said that the tunnel system is "like the Underground, the Metro, or the subway."[18]

The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine refugees reported in November 2022 that it found a tunnel underneath an elementary school operated by the agency.[19] "The Agency protested strongly to the relevant authorities in Gaza to express outrage and condemnation of the presence of such a structure underneath one of its installations", which it complained was "a serious violation of the Agency's neutrality and a breach of international law" that "exposes children and Agency staff to significant security and safety risks."[19] The UNRWA said in a statement that the agency had "cordoned off the area and swiftly took the necessary measures to render the school safe, including permanently sealing the cavity."[19]

Hamas released the 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz on 24 October 2023, who had been taken hostage during the October 7 attacks. Lifshitz described walking for two to three hours through damp tunnels until she and other hostages reached a large hall. Lifshitz told reporters that Hamas has a "huge network" of tunnels that resembled a "spiderweb." According to Lifshitz, Hamas had prepared clean rooms with mattresses on the ground and the hostages received regular visits from doctors in their underground positions.[20]

### Largest tunnels

[edit]

The largest known tunnel was discovered by the IDF on 17 December 2023, during the Gaza war. The tunnel has several branches and junctions, along with plumbing, electricity and communication lines. The largest of the branches discovered had a length of approximately four kilometers and goes down to a depth of 50 meters underground in some areas. The tunnel was wide enough for vehicles to travel inside. IDF also captured footage of the tunnel's construction which was released to the internet and showed Hamas using tunnel-boring machines.[21] The tunnel was discovered a quarter of a mile from a border crossing, and was described by Israel as designed for "moving massive assets." In one video shown to journalists, Yahya Sinwar's brother Mohammad Sinwar is seen driving a car through what Israel described as the tunnel.[22]

## Origins and construction

[edit]

Photograph of a Palestinian tunnel shaft uncovered by the Israeli military during Operation Protective Edge, 2014

The tunnel network used for warfare purposes has its origins in the smuggling tunnels connecting the Gaza Strip to Egypt.[23][24][25] Tunnels have connected the Egyptian and Gazan sides of Rafah since the early 1980s, when the Philadelphi Route artificially divided the city.[26][27][25] These tunnels grew in size, sophistication, and importance as a result of the Egyptian and Israeli economic blockade in 2007.[28][25]

The implementation of the tunnel network was reportedly coordinated under the direction of Mohammed Deif, leader of Al-Qassam Brigades; and before that, Ahmed Jabari, formerly the head of operations for the Brigades before being killed by the IDF.[29]

The tunnels into Israel were constructed using the expertise of the Rafah families who have specialized in digging tunnels into Egypt for commerce and smuggling.[30] According to Eado Hecht, an Israeli defence analyst specialising in underground warfare, "[T]hese underground complexes are fairly similar in concept to the Viet Cong tunnels dug beneath the jungles of South Vietnam, though the quality of finishing is better, with concrete walls and roofs, electricity and other required amenities for lengthy sojourn."[31]

The Israeli military has provided estimates in 2014 that Hamas spent around $30 to $90 million, and poured 600,000 tons of concrete, in order to build three dozen tunnels.[32][33] Some tunnels were estimated to have cost $3 million to construct.[34][35]

The Mako network published a description of the working conditions on the tunnels, citing an unnamed Israeli informant who said he worked on them, including the following details: Workers spent 8–12 hours a day on construction under precarious conditions and received a monthly wage of $150–$300.[36] Hamas used electric or pneumatic jackhammers for digging tunnels. Tunnels were dug 18–25 meters (59–82 ft) underground at the rate of 4–5 meters a day.[36] Tunnels were usually dug through sandy soil requiring their roof to be supported by a more durable level of clay. Tunnels were also reinforced by concrete panels manufactured in workshops adjacent to each tunnel.[36] As of 2014, according to Yiftah S. Shapir and Gal Perel, the cost of digging a tunnel was around $100,000 and takes about three months to build.[37]

According to reporting from Al-Monitor, individuals digging the tunnels spend long periods underground and use a device with a pedal-powered chain, similar to a bicycle, to dig through the dirt while lying on his back and pedaling with his feet.[38]

Construction and use of the tunnels is associated with mortal danger due to accidental detonation of explosives and tunnel collapses. Hamas reported that 22 members of its armed wing died in tunnel accidents in 2017; another militant was killed on 22 April 2018.[39]

### Iranian involvement

[edit]

After the 2007 imposition of a blockade on the Gaza Strip by Israel and Egypt, the Iranian Quds Force under the longtime direction of General Qasem Soleimani has been active in supporting the further construction of tunnels under Gaza and the smuggling of weapons through these tunnels to the armed wings of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. In 2021 senior Hamas representative to Lebanon, Ahmad Abd al-Hadi said:

> The idea of [digging] tunnels... Today there are 360 kilometers of tunnels in Gaza. There are more than 360 kilometers of tunnels underground. I won't go into details on this. Two people came up with the idea of digging these tunnels: The first is the martyred commander Imad Mughniyeh, and the second is Hajj Qasem Soleimani who went to Gaza more than once and contributed to the defense plan from the moment it was first drafted. I am not divulging any secret, by the way. The enemies know all this but what the enemies do not know is way more than what they do know.[40]

Iranian Brigadier-General Abdolfattah Ahvazian, adviser to the Commander of the Quds Force, said in November 2023 regarding Soleimani's role in the construction and proliferation of the Gaza tunnel network:

> After the martyrdom of Hajj Qasem [Soleimani], the guys from Hamas showed us a movie. I watched the movie, and according to the people of Hamas there, Hajj Qasem had gone into Gaza. He said to them: 'Why are you sitting idly by?' They answered: 'Hajj, there is no way.' So he gave the order to take a Jihadi action, and dig hundreds of tunnels, crossing the [Gaza] borders. Within three years, the Palestinians have dug hundreds of tunnels, approximately 800 km-long, with pickaxes and hoes. These are not the kind of tunnels that only mice can use. These tunnels allow the passages of cars, mules with ammunition, and motorcycles. 700 kilometers with nothing but pickaxes and hoes.[41]

Retired Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps General Ezzatollah Zarghami admitted in November 2023 of having visited and inspected the Gaza tunnels himself along with senior Hamas members, during his active service with the Quds Force:

> Fajr-3, which is a 240 mm rocket, was one of our products. Later, we made its warhead smaller and it had a range of 70 km. My first mission was to take this rocket... I say this with the utmost pride and with no fear of anyone. The Leader has already said that we were helping [Hamas]. We support the oppressed everywhere – Shiite Hezbollah as well as Sunni Hamas. These are what [Khamenei] has declared in the past. I traveled to the region as the production manager of those rockets, and I supplied them both to Hezbollah and the Palestinians. For some time, I was inside the very same tunnels that they are fighting from. Six or seven years ago, I posted about this and got the nickname 'yellow canary.' In the tunnels, I provided training about the usage and specification of the rockets. These training courses were highly successful. I saw that they had cages of singing canaries in the tunnels. I praised their commander about their acumen to have music during military work. The commander replied that the birds are not meant for singing, they are meant to be [oxygen] sensors in case the airflow is disrupted. If the airflow becomes weaker, the birds stop singing and drop dead. When the bird dies, we realize that there is a problem with airflow.[42]

Mansour Haghighatpour, also a retired Quds Force General, stated in December 2023 that the creation of the tunnels under Gaza was an effort not only by the Palestinians but by the whole "Axis of Resistance":

> The other thing I would like to point out is that the resistance axis, which planned with the Palestinians to build more than 400 kilometers of tunnels under an area of land that did not exceed 40 square kilometers, took various possible “scenarios” into consideration. These scenarios include [Israel] flooding the tunnels with water, pumping toxic gas into them, or blowing up parts of them. Therefore, the Palestinian side in the tunnels knows very well how to deal with all possible challenges.[43]

The Shi'ite cleric Sheikh Jaffer Ladak asserted in January 2024 that Soleimani had played a major role in influencing the strategy of the Palestinian factions, turning it away from the suicide bombing attacks widely employed at the time of the Second Intifada and towards an underground warfare strategy:

> Ayman Zarqawi was the one who began the idea of suicide bombings and then, he used this influence upon the Palestinians who then felt it was needful to be able to do suicide bombings in the occupied territories. Suicide bombings, of course, not only has a great ishqal and problem with it, it is not with the flavor of Islamic resistance. It doesn't yield the goals, and also drew the ire of the world community on the Palestinian resistance. Enter people like martyr Qasem Soleimani. And, with his influence, you would actually see that the structure of the Palestinian resistance was overhauled. The tunnels that were being tug [sic], and its relationship with the rest of the Islamic world, particularly those in Lebanon, particularly those in Iran, flourished, to such an extent that now, the so-called strongest army in West Asia still cannot defeat those people who have been starved for more than three months.[44]

During the 2012 Gaza War, the Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Major-General Mohammad Ali Jafari said that due to the geographical isolation of the Gaza Strip, Iran cannot directly provide weapons to Hamas but still provides them with the technology and parts through the tunnels, which is then used by the al-Qassam Brigades to manufacture a Palestinian homemade version of the Iranian Fajr-5 missile that has managed to hit Israeli targets within Israel's capital Tel Aviv.[45]

## Strategic objectives and uses

[edit]

According to Eado Hecht, an Israeli defence analyst specialising in underground warfare, "Three different kinds of tunnels existed beneath Gaza, smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt; defensive tunnels inside Gaza, used for command centres and weapons storage; and—connected to the defensive tunnels—offensive tunnels used for cross-border attacks on Israel", including the capture of Israeli soldiers.[46]

American ambassador Daniel B. Shapiro examining a part of the Palestinian tunnel network uncovered by the Israeli military during Operation Protective Edge, 2014

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, an Israeli security think tank, describes tunnel warfare as a shifting of the balance of power: "Tunnel warfare provided armies facing a technologically superior adversary with an effective means for countering its air superiority." According to the center, tunnels conceal missile launchers, facilitate attacks on strategic targets like Ben-Gurion Airport, and allow cross-border access to Israeli territory.[47]

An editorial in The Washington Post described the tunnels as "using tons of concrete desperately needed for civilian housing" and also as endangering civilians because they were constructed under civilian homes in the "heavily populated Shijaiyah district" and underneath the al-Wafa Hospital.[48]

Working on the tunnel system provides an outlet for Hamas militants to be productively engaged in relative peacetime.[49]

Daphné Richemond-Barak, the author of “Underground Warfare,” wrote in Foreign Policy magazine: "Never in the history of tunnel warfare has a defender been able to spend months in such confined spaces. The digging itself, the innovative ways Hamas has made use of the tunnels and the group’s survival underground for this long have been unprecedented."[50]

### Defensive uses

[edit]

An Al-Monitor report described tunnels within Gaza and away from the border that serve two purposes: storing and shielding weapons including rockets and launchers, and providing security and mobility to Hamas militants.[51] The report indicated that the latter function occurs in a set of "security tunnels": "Every single leader of Hamas, from its lowest ranking bureaucrats to its most senior leaders, is intimately familiar with the route to the security tunnel assigned to him and his family."[51] Twenty-three militants in the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, survived Israeli shelling on 17 July 2014 and remained alive but trapped in a tunnel until the early August ceasefire.[52] In October 2013, Ihab al-Ghussein, spokesman of the Interior Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority, described the tunnels as an exercise of Gaza's "right to protect itself."[53] In October 2014, Hamas leader Khalid Mishal denied that the tunnels were ever to be used to attack civilians: "Have any of the tunnels been used to kill any civilian or any of the residents of such towns? No. Never! ... [Hamas] used them either to strike beyond the back lines of the Israeli army or to raid some military sites... This proves that Hamas is only defending itself."[54]

The tunnels are used to conceal and protect weapons and militants and facilitate communication, making detection from the air difficult.[55] In 2014, Hamas leader Khalid Meshal said in an interview with Vanity Fair that the tunnel system is a defensive structure, designed to place obstacles against Israel's powerful military arsenal and engage in counter-strikes behind the lines of the IDF. He said that the tunnels are used for infiltration of Israel, but said that offensive operations had never caused the death of civilians in Israel, and denied allegations of planned mass attacks on Israeli civilians.[56]

Hamas logistics officer and weapons smuggler Mahmoud al-Mabhouh escaped Israeli forces through a smuggling tunnel in 1989 to Egypt.[57][58]

During the 2012 Gaza war, Palestinian militants frequently made use of tunnels and bunkers to take cover from Israeli air strikes.[59]

### Offensive uses

[edit]

Palestinian military personnel in Gaza explained to news website al-Monitor that the purpose of a cross-border tunnel was to conduct operations behind enemy lines in the event of an Israeli operation against Gaza.[38] Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, commenting on the strategic importance of the tunnels, stated: "Today, we are the ones who invade them; they do not invade us."[60] The tunnels have been described by former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh as representative of "a new strategy in confronting the occupation and in the conflict with the enemy from underground and from above the ground."[25] A Palestinian militia document obtained by al-Monitor and also published in The Washington Post described the objectives of the under-border tunnels:

> The tunnel war is one of the most important and most dangerous military tactics in the face of the Israeli army because it features a qualitative and strategic dimension, because of its human and moral effects, and because of its serious threat and unprecedented challenge to the Israeli military machine, which is heavily armed and follows security doctrines involving protection measures and preemption. ... [The tactic is] to surprise the enemy and strike it a deadly blow that doesn't allow a chance for survival or escape or allow him a chance to confront and defend itself.[38][61]

Israeli spokespersons have maintained that the aim of the tunnels is to harm Israel civilians. According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the "sole purpose" of the cross-border tunnels from Gaza to Israel is "the destruction of our citizens and killing of our children." The Israeli government has called the tunnels "terror tunnels," stating that they have a potential to target civilians and soldiers in Israel.[62][61] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the aim was to abduct and kill civilians. An IDF spokesman said the goal is "to abduct or kill civilians but will make do with a soldier, too." The Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv reported that, according to unnamed Israeli security sources, the tunnels were to be utilized in a mass casualty terror attack planned to take place on the Jewish high holy day of Rosh Hashanah, 24 September 2014. The plan was described to reporter Ariel Kahane by the sources, and reportedly revealed to the Israeli security Cabinet by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The alleged plot entailed a planned assault in which two hundred of heavily armed Hamas fighters would have emerged at night from more than a dozen tunnels to infiltrate Israeli territory, killing and/or abducting Israeli citizens.[63]

A Gazan tunnel was used to carry out an attack for the first time in September 2001, in the context of the Second Palestinian Intifada, when "Palestinians detonated a 200-kilogram bomb inside a tunnel underneath the IDF border outpost of Termit on the Philadelphi corridor", resulting in the near-complete destruction of the outpost located in Rafah.[64][65]

Hamas used tunnels to bomb an IDF outpost in Gaza in June 2004, killing one soldier and injuring five.[37][66]

Shortly after the death of Yasser Arafat and purportedly in retaliation for the same, Hamas and Fatah tunneled under a border-crossing checkpoint at Rafah and detonated a bomb, killing five Israelis in the IDF outpost bombing attack, killing five Israeli soldiers and wounding six.[67][37]

Hamas used a tunnel in June 2006 that exited near Kerem Shalom to conduct a cross-border raid that resulted in the death of two IDF soldiers and the kidnapping of a third, Gilad Shalit.[61][37]

An Israeli soldier conducting maintenance work on the border fence in November 2012 was injured when Hamas's military wing, Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, detonated a booby-trapped tunnel, and a 13-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by Israeli machine-gun fire following the explosion.[68][69]

The tunnels were used in warfare on numerous occasions during the 2014 conflict.[70] On at least four occasions during the conflict, Palestinian militants crossing the border through the tunnels engaged in combat with Israeli soldiers. Israeli officials reported four "incidents in which members of Palestinian armed groups emerged from tunnel exits located between 1.1 and 4.7 km from civilian homes."[71] The Israeli government refers to cross-border tunnels as "attack tunnels" or "terror tunnels."[62][72] According to Israel, the tunnels enabled the launch of rockets by remote control,[73] and were intended to facilitate hostage-taking[72][74][75][76][77] and mass-casualty attacks.[62][63]

Hamas militants carrying RPGs and assault rifles crossed the Israeli border on 17 July 2014 through a tunnel about a mile away from the farming village of Sufa, but were stopped by Israeli Defense Forces.[14][78] The Israeli military reported that thirteen armed men had exited the tunnel, and shared video footage of them being hit by the explosion of an airstrike.[79] Israeli authorities claimed the purpose had been to attack civilians.[74][80]

Two squads of armed Palestinian militants crossed the Israeli border on 21 July 2014 through a tunnel near Kibbutz Nir Am. The first squad of ten was killed by an Israeli air strike. A second squad killed four Israeli soldiers using an anti-tank weapon. The Jerusalem Post reported that the attackers sought to infiltrate Kibbutz Nir Am, but a senior intelligence source told the Times of Israel that "the Hamas gunmen were not in motion or en route to a kibbutz but rather had camouflaged themselves in the field, laying an ambush for an army patrol."[81][82]

Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants attacked an Israeli military outpost on 28 July 2014 near Nahal Oz using a tunnel, killing five Israeli soldiers. One attacker was also killed.[14][83]

Hamas militants emerging from a tunnel on 1 August 2014 attacked an Israeli patrol in Rafah, thus violating a humanitarian ceasefire,[84] killing two Israeli soldiers. The militants returned to Rafah through a tunnel, bringing the body of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin with them.[14] Israel at first believed that the militants had abducted Goldin and were holding him, but later determined that he had also been killed.[85]

An unnamed senior intelligence source told The Times of Israel on 28 July 2014 that of the nine cross-border tunnels detected, none stretched into a civilian community, and that in the five infiltrations to that time Hamas had targeted soldiers rather than civilians.[81] On 31 July 2014 IDF Army Radio quoted an unnamed senior military official as saying that "all the tunnels were aimed at military targets and not at the Gaza-vicinity communities".[86] A UNHRC Commission of Inquiry on the Gaza Conflict published a report in 2015 concluding that during the 2014 conflict, "the tunnels were only used to conduct attacks directed at IDF positions in Israel in the vicinity of the Green Line, which are legitimate military targets."[87] An Israeli intelligence source that spoke to Times of Israel indicated that none of the nine cross-border tunnels were aimed at civilian border communities. All the infiltration attempts focused on attacking military targets. The main aim of the attacks seems to have been to capture an IDF prisoner.[81][86] Israeli officials condemned the UNHRC report.[88]

Hamas launched an attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, taking 252 people hostage.[20]

#### Psychological impact

[edit]

Eitan Shamir and Hecht wrote that, during the 2014 Gaza War, one objective of conducting cross-border raids on Israeli settlements using tunnels was to inflict psychological shock on the Israeli populations.[89] A UN Commission of Inquiry found that "these tunnels and their use by Palestinian armed groups during the hostilities [of the 2014 Gaza War] caused great anxiety among Israelis that the tunnels might be used to attack civilians."[87] According to Slesinger, the tunnels disrupt the Israelis' notion of territorial sovereignty and decreases the confidence of Israeli politicians' in their ability to manage external risks through ordinary border enforcement mechanisms such as patrols, fences, walls, and checkpoints–which in turn compromises the Israeli citizenry's "faith in the state's ability to provide security.[90]

#### Kidnapping

[edit]

Israel says that the kidnapping of Israeli civilians and soldiers is one of the primary goals of tunnel construction.[61] The Wall Street Journal described an attack tunnel inspected by one of its reporters as "designed for launching murder and kidnapping raids", noting that the "3-mile-long tunnel was reinforced with concrete, lined with telephone wires, and included cabins unnecessary for infiltration operations but useful for holding hostages."[91] In October 2013, the newspaper Haaretz noted that "[t]he IDF's working assumption [was] that such tunnels [would] be made operative whenever there is an escalation in the area, whether initiated by Hamas or by Israel, and [would] be used for attacks and abduction attempts", adding that "[i]f Hamas initiates such an escalation while holding several Israeli citizens or soldiers, it would be in a much stronger position."[92] According to The New York Times, one tunnel contained "a kidnapping kit of tranquilizers and plastic handcuffs".[93][94]

## Israel's countermeasures

[edit]

A Palestinian tunnel coming into Israel from the Gaza Strip, uncovered by the Israeli military between Kissufim and Nirim, 10 December 2017[95]

Throughout the Second Intifada, the IDF launched numerous raids to counter-act the Palestinian use of tunnels, and had destroyed over 100 tunnels by June 2004.[37]

The IDF identified 13 smuggling tunnels in October 2006 along the Philadelphi Route and The Jerusalem Post reported that IDF destroyed "five more tunnels".[96]

The IDF identified a tunnel complex in November 2007, concealed in a tomato greenhouse with exits near Netiv HaAsara and Erez.[37]

Six militants were killed and a tunnel within 300 m (980 ft) of the border fence was destroyed by Israeli forces in November 2008.[97]

The IDF targeted 140 smuggling tunnels and 66 tunnels used for attacks during the 2012 Gaza War. An estimated 500 tunnels were thought to exist at that time.[98][99] By the end of the operation, the network of attack tunnels had been largely destroyed.[100]

A tunnel discovered in 2013 began in the Gazan village of Abasan al-Saghira with an initial depth at the entrance of 22 m (72 ft), a length of approximately 950 m (3,120 ft), a width of approximately 1.8 m (5.9 ft), a height of approximately 1.1 m (3.6 ft), and a final depth at the exit of 18 m (59 ft), opening into a spot some 2,800 m (1.7 mi) from the kibbutz of Ein HaShlosha.[101]

According to Israel, between January and October 2013, three tunnels under the border were identified, two of which were packed with explosives.[93][102][103]

The IDF demolished two cross-border tunnels in November 2013.[14]

Destroying the tunnels was a primary objective of Israeli forces in the July–August 2014 conflict.[93] The IDF reported that it "neutralized" 32 tunnels, fourteen of which crossed into Israel.[104][105] A column in the Wall Street Journal cited Yigal Carmon, head of the Middle East Media Research Institute, as saying that it was the tunnels, and not the 2014 Gush Etzion kidnapping and murder that was the immediate cause of war in the summer of 2014. According to Carmon's reading of the situation, the tunnels gave Hamas the ability to stake a mass-casualty attack on the scale of the 2008 Islamist terror attack on the Taj Hotel in Mumbai that killed 164 people.

An Israeli airstrike on 5 July 2014 damaged a tunnel near kibbutz Kerem Shalom, and a group of Hamas military inspectors were killed in an explosion at the tunnel on 6 July 2014. According to Carmon, this may have persuaded Hamas that Israel was becoming aware of the scale of the capacity for militants to infiltrate Israel via tunnels, making a successful surprise mass-casualty attack less likely, and convincing the Hamas leadership to go to war immediately before more of the tunnels could be discovered and destroyed.[106]

The IDF killed six Hamas militants on 6 July 2014 in an attack on a cross-border tunnel near Rafah.[14] This resulted in an escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and was a key impetus to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.[14]

The IDF foiled an attempt on 17 July 2014 by 13 militants to launch an attack near the kibbutz Sufa.[14][107]

The IDF announced on 11 August 2014 they had successfully tested a system that could be used to detect these tunnels.[108] This new system uses a combination of sensors and special transmitters to locate tunnels.[109] The IDF expects development to cost up to NIS 1.5 billion, and could be deployed within the year.[110]

The IDF located a cross-border tunnel exiting near the area of Holit in May 2016, that had apparently been rebuilt as a bypass after initially being destroyed during Operation Protective Edge.[111]

Israel began the construction of a border wall in the summer of 2017 which stretched several meters underground to counter tunnel assaults.[112] The structure is equipped with sensors to detect future tunnel construction. Concrete for the structure was produced using five concrete factories dedicated to the project and about 10 meters was completed daily. The structure was placed entirely on Israeli land.[113]

Israeli forces destroyed a tunnel on 30 October 2017 that crossed the Gaza border into Israeli territory.[114] Twelve Palestinians, including ten members of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine and two Hamas militants, were killed in the blast and subsequent rescue efforts.[115] The most senior person killed was Brigade Commander Arafat Marshood of Islamic Jihad's al-Quds Brigades.[116]

Israeli forces destroyed an additional tunnel that crossed the border on 10 December 2017.[117]

Following the destruction of an attack tunnel from Gaza that crossed into Egypt and Israel in January 2018,[118] IDF Major General Yoav Mordechai, speaking in Arabic, said, "I want to send a message to everyone who is digging or gets too close to the tunnels: As you've seen in the past two months, these tunnels bring only death," referring to Hamas tunnels that had recently been destroyed by Israel. Major General Eyal Zamir stated that more Hamas tunnels into Israel would be destroyed as the construction of a barrier around the Gaza Strip will soon be completed.[119]

The Israeli military announced in April 2018 it destroyed a tunnel that was called the "longest ever" and stretched several kilometers from inside the Gaza Strip, near Jabalia, and reached several meters into Israel, towards Nahal Oz, though no exit had yet been built.[120][121]

An Israeli airstrike destroyed a naval tunnel belonging to Hamas militants for the first time in June 2018.[122]

The Israeli Ministry of Defense released the first pictures of an underwater barrier with Gaza in August 2018, designed to prevent Hamas infiltrations by sea. Construction of the barrier started two months before and is expected to be completed by the end of the year, stretching two hundred meters into the Mediterranean.[123]

The Israeli military destroyed a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip in October 2018 that was 1 km (0.62 mi) long, 200 m (660 ft) of which encroached upon Israeli territory.[124]

Israeli airstrikes in May 2021 destroyed over 100 kilometers of tunnel network inside Gaza during Operation Guardian of the Walls.[125]

The Israeli Ministry of Defense announced in December 2021 that a 65-kilometer underground barrier to deal with the threat of cross-border tunnels along the border with Gaza had been completed.[126]

The Israeli Defense Forces were reported to be considering the use of sponge bombs in October 2023 as a non-lethal means of sealing tunnels during their incursion into the Gaza Strip.[127]

The Egyptian government has also regarded the tunnels as a security risk. In 2013, Egypt attempted to destroy certain tunnels along its Gaza border by filling them with sewage and demolishing houses that hid their entrances, according to Joel Roskin, a geology professor at Bar-Ilan University.[3]

## See also

[edit]

* Anti-tunnel barrier along the Gaza–Israel border
* Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels
* Sinaloa Cartel#Tijuana Airport/Drug Super Tunnels
* 2014 Nahal Oz attack
* Mahmoud Rushdi Eshtewi [ar]
* Hezbollah tunnels
* Củ Chi tunnels

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Berlinger, Joshua (28 October 2023). "The 'Gaza metro': The mysterious subterranean tunnel network used by Hamas". Retrieved 17 July 2025.
2. ^ "Israel targets Hamas' subterranean city but 'wicked problem' is… 'Gaza metro'". Hindustan Times. 28 October 2023.
3. ^ a b Leonhardt, David; Jackson, Lauren (30 October 2023). "Gaza's Vital Tunnels". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
4. ^ "فرمانده سپاه تهران: مردم غزه بیش از ۵۰۰ کیلومتر تونل دارند و در آن سلاح ذخیره کردند". 27 April 2024.
5. ^ a b Haddad 2018, p. 71.
6. ^ Filiu 2014, p. 323.
7. ^ Slesinger 2018, p. 7.
8. ^ Rubenstein 2015, p. 127.
9. ^ Fishman, Alex (7 March 2017). "What is Israel doing about the Gaza tunnels today?". Ynet. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
10. ^ Kubovich, Yaniv (16 June 2021). "Israeli Oversight Lets Hamas Build Tunnels, New Reports Reveal". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023.
11. ^ Piven, Ben (23 July 2014). "Gaza's underground: A vast tunnel network that empowers Hamas". Al Jazeera America. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
12. ^ a b Weizman 2007, p. 255.
13. ^ a b c Slesinger 2018, p. 14.
14. ^ a b c d e f g h Shapir & Perel 2014, p. 53.
15. ^ Shapir & Perel 2014, p. 54.
16. ^ Slesinger 2018, p. 15.
17. ^ a b Harel, Amos; Cohen, Gili (17 October 2014). "Haaretz Probe: IDF Lacked Training, Equipment to Tackle Tunnels in Gaza War". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022.
18. ^ Laub, Karin; Goldenberg, Tia (20 July 2014). "Scores dead in first major ground battle in Gaza". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023.
19. ^ a b c "UNRWA Strongly Condemns Neutrality Breach Against the Agency in Gaza – Statement". United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). 29 November 2022.
20. ^ a b Sieff, Kevin; Tarnopolsky, Noga; Adam, Karla (24 October 2023). "Released Hamas hostage was held in 'spiderweb' of damp tunnels under Gaza". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023.
21. ^ Fabian, Emanuel (17 December 2023). "IDF uncovers largest-ever Hamas attack tunnel, near northern Gaza border crossing". Times of Israel. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
22. ^ Lieber, Dov. "Israeli Military Reveals Tunnel It Says Hamas Built for Large-Scale Attack". WSJ. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
23. ^ Pelham 2012, pp. 8–13.
24. ^ Black 2017, Ch. 25: 2009–2014.
25. ^ a b c d Verini, James (21 July 2014). "Gaza's Tunnels, Now Used to Attack Israel, Began as Economic Lifelines". National Geographic. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
26. ^ Pelham 2012, p. 7.
27. ^ Weizman 2007, p. 254.
28. ^ Pelham 2012, p. 8-10.
29. ^ Watkins & James 2016, p. 92.
30. ^ Pfeffer, Anshel (24 July 2014). "Hamas is losing on the battlefield but hitting Israel where it hurts". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 30 July 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
31. ^ Hecht, Eado (22 July 2014). "Gaza: How Hamas tunnel network grew". BBC News. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014. "These underground complexes are fairly similar in concept to the Viet Cong tunnels dug beneath the jungles of South Vietnam, though the quality of finishing is better, with concrete walls and roofs, electricity and other required amenities for lengthy sojourn."
32. ^ Calev Ben-David (27 July 2014). "Secret Tunnels Under Israel Reveal Threat From Gaza". Newsweek/BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
33. ^ Fitch, Asa, Rory Jones and Adam Entous. "Early Failure to Detect Gaza Tunnel Network Triggers Recriminations in Israel: Israel Estimates Gaza Tunnels Cost Hamas $90 Million to Build." The Wall Street Journal. 10 August 2014.
34. ^ Levs, Josh (30 July 2014). "Gaza Conflict Numbers". CNN. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
35. ^ Alster, Paul (8 August 2014). "Hamas backers spend fortunes on rockets and tunnels while Gazans live in misery". Fox News. Archived from the original on 9 August 2014. "up to $3 million, according to the IDF"
36. ^ a b c Newman, Marissa (11 August 2014). "Hamas said to have executed dozens of tunnel diggers". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
37. ^ a b c d e f Shapir & Perel 2014, p. 52.
38. ^ a b c Abu Amer, Adnan. "Tunnel May Signal Shift In Hamas-Israel Conflict". Al Monitor. Al Monitor. Archived from the original on 25 August 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
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40. ^ "Hamas Representative in Lebanon Ahmad Abd Al-Hadi: Qasem Soleimani Visited Gaza More Than Once; Played Major Role in Hamas' Tunnel Project (Archival)".
41. ^ "Abdolfattah Ahvazian, Advisor to IRGC Qods Force Commander: Qasem Soleimani Was in Gaza and Ordered Hamas to Dig Tunnels; Israeli Women Captured on October 7 Were Brigade Commanders, No Need to Feel Sorry for Them; Hamas Killed 60 U.S. Advisors and Captured Netanyahu's Nephew".
42. ^ "Iranian Minister of Cultural Heritage and Retired IRGC General Ezzatollah Zarghami: Iran Supplied Hamas and Hizbullah with Rockets; I Traveled to the Gaza Tunnels to Teach Them How to Use the Rockets".
43. ^ "Assistant General Qassem Soleimani to al Jazeera Net: For these reasons, the Gaza tunnels will remain a nightmare for Israel Policy". 17 December 2023.
44. ^ "Leeds, UK Shi'ite Mosque Friday Sermon by Jaffer Ladak: IRGC General Soleimani Completely Overhauled the Palestinian Resistance, Moved Them Away from Wahhabi-Influenced Suicide Bombings in Israeli Cafés and Buses, Brought Them Closer to Iran". Memri. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
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56. ^ Adam Ciralsky, 'Hamas's Khalid Mishal on the Gaza War, Tunnels, and ISIS,' Vanity Fair 21 October 2014.
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59. ^ Cohen et al. 2017, p. 43.
60. ^ Rubenstein 2015, p. 123.
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64. ^ Weizman 2007, p. 256.
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66. ^ Comprehensive Listing of Terrorism Victims in Israel
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68. ^ Cohen et al. 2017, p. 35.
69. ^ "Gaza: Palestinian boy 'killed by Israeli gunfire'". BBC News. 9 November 2012. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022.
70. ^ Gal Perl Finkel, The IDF vs subterranean warfare, The Jerusalem Post, 16 August 2016.
71. ^ United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict (22 June 2015). Report of the detailed findings of the independent commission of inquiry established pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution S-21/1. Geneva: United Nations. p. 31. "Official Israeli sources describe 'cross-border tunnel attacks' as one of 'two primary means to target Israeli civilians,' explaining that, 'Hamas placed tunnel openings close to residential communities in Israel'."
72. ^ a b Batchelor, John (29 July 2014). "Hamas' attack tunnels are transforming war with Israel". Batchelor Show. Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
73. ^ William Booth,'Here's what really happened in the Gaza war according to the Israelis,' Washington Post 3 September 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014
74. ^ a b Kershner, Isabel (17 July 2014). "Trouble Underfoot on Israeli Kibbutz Near the Border". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014. ""They planned to carry out a massacre here," Eyal Brandeis, 50, a lecturer in political science and one of the few residents remaining here, said of the Hamas militants who came out of the tunnel armed with machine guns and grenades."
75. ^ Rudoren, Jodi (22 July 2014). "A Blast, a Fire and an Israeli Soldier Goes Missing". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 22 July 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
76. ^ Halevi, Jonathan (22 July 2014). "Hamas's Attack Tunnels: Analysis and Initial Implications". Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
77. ^ McCoy, Terrance (21 July 2014). "How Hamas uses its tunnels to kill and capture Israeli soldiers". The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
78. ^ Rubenstein 2015, pp. 125–126.
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81. ^ a b c Klein, Aaron J.; Ginsburg, Mitch (29 July 2014). "Could Israeli soldiers, not civilians, be the target of the attack tunnels?". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
82. ^ Lappin, Yaakov (21 July 2014). "10 terrorists killed attempting to infiltrate Israel through tunnel". Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
83. ^ Bryant, Christa Case (28 July 2014). "Hamas attacks by tunnel rattle Israelis on Gaza border (+video)". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Archived from the original on 30 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
84. ^ "IDF: Israeli soldier probably captured". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 1 August 2014. Archived from the original on 16 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
85. ^ Saul, Heather (1 August 2014). "Israeli soldier 'captured in tunnel attack' by Gaza militants". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
86. ^ a b "Can complete the destruction of tunnels within 48 hours". Galei Tzahal. 14 August 2014.: "A senior military official estimated tonight (Thursday) in a conversation with Army Radio that the IDF can complete the task of destroying the tunnels within 48 hours. The military official said: 'all the tunnels were aimed at military targets and not at the Gaza-vicinity communities'..."
87. ^ a b United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict (22 June 2015). Report of the detailed findings of the independent commission of inquiry established pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution S-21/1 (PDF). Geneva: United Nations. p. 31\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 October 2023.
88. ^ "UN report: Tunnels into Israel legitimately targeted IDF". Times of Israel. 22 June 2015.
89. ^ Shamir & Hecht 2014, pp. 84–85.
90. ^ Slesinger 2018, pp. 13–14.
91. ^ Conway, James (24 July 2014). "The Moral Chasm Between Israel and Hamas; The 3-mile-long tunnel from Gaza was designed for launching murder and kidnapping raids". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
92. ^ Harel, Amos (14 October 2013). "Hamas' strategic tunnels: Millions of dollars to spirit kidnapped Israelis into Gaza". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
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94. ^ Goldberg, Jeffrey (28 July 2014). "Destroying Hamas's kidnapping tunnels only way to protect Israelis". National Post. Archived from the original on 5 August 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
95. ^ "WATCH: IDF destroys cross-border Hamas tunnel, second in recent weeks". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
96. ^ "Gaza: IDF destroys 5 more arms smuggling tunnels". The Jerusalem Post. 19 October 2006. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
97. ^ Shapir & Perel 2014, pp. 52–53.
98. ^ Lichtenwald & Perri 2013, p. 210.
99. ^ Cohen et al. 2017, p. 47.
100. ^ Rodman 2019, Chapter 6: The Second Lebanon and Gaza Wars.
101. ^ Cohen et al. 2017, p. 77.
102. ^ Fiske, Gavriel; Ginsburg, Mitch (13 October 2013). "IDF blames Hamas for 'terror tunnel' from Gaza to Israel Defense minister halts transfer of construction supplies to the Strip after 500 tons of cement used to construct underground passage". Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 6 August 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
103. ^ Ginsberg, Mitch (16 October 2013). "How Hamas dug its Gaza 'terror tunnel,' and how the IDF found it". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 6 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
104. ^ Israel Defense Forces (5 August 2014). "Operation Protective Edge by the Numbers". The Official Blog of the Israel Defense Forces. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
105. ^ Cohen et al. 2017, p. 69.
106. ^ Mukasey, Michael B. (20 July 2014). "Tunnels Matter More Than Rockets to Hamas". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
107. ^ Rubenstein 2015, p. 125.
108. ^ "Israel tests system to detect Hamas tunnels". i24news. 17 July 2014. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014.
109. ^ Kipnees, Shira (17 July 2014). "Israel Tests New Terror Tunnel Detection System". Israel. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014.
110. ^ "IDF successfully tests system designed to detect terror tunnels". Jerusalem Post. 11 August 2014. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014.
111. ^ Cohen, Gili (5 May 2016). "IDF Discovers Hamas Tunnel Extending From Gaza Into Israel for Second Time in One Month". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022.
112. ^ "Israel Speeds Up Underground Border Wall To Block Gaza Tunnels". NPR.org. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
113. ^ Sanchez, Raf (2018). "Israel unveils plans for 40-mile underground wall around Gaza". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
114. ^ Israel destroys tunnel from Gaza, killing seven Palestinians, Guardian, 30 October 2017
115. ^ ISRAEL SAYS IT'S HOLDING BODIES OF GAZA TERRORISTS KILLED IN TUNNEL BLAST, JPost, 5 November 2017
116. ^ "Seven Palestinians killed as Israel strikes Gaza tunnel". www.aljazeera.com. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
117. ^ Israel says it has destroyed Hamas attack tunnel from Gaza , Reuters, 10 December 2017
118. ^ Israel says it destroyed Gaza attack tunnel under Egyptian border, Reuters, 14 January 2018
119. ^ Pileggi, Tamar (14 January 2018). "General says 'Jewish brains' have found solution to eliminate all Hamas tunnels". The Times of Israel.
120. ^ "Israel destroys 'longest' Gaza tunnel". BBC News. 15 April 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
121. ^ Kubovich, Yaniv (15 April 2018). "Israeli Army Destroys 'Longest Ever' Hamas Attack Tunnel Crossing From Gaza Into Israel". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 20 August 2022.
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125. ^ "No rockets since 2 a.m. ceasefire, over 100 km of Hamas tunnels destroyed". Jerusalem Post. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
126. ^ "Israel completes upgraded barrier with the Gaza Strip". Jerusalem Post. 7 December 2021.
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### Bibliography

[edit]

* Black, Ian (2017). Enemies and Neighbors: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917–2017. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press.
* Cohen, Raphael S.; Johnson, David E.; Thaler, David E.; Allen, Brenna; Bartels, Elizabeth M.; Cahill, James; Efron, Shira (2017). From Cast Lead to Protective Edge: Lessons from Israel's War in Gaza. Santa Monica, California: RAND Corporation. ISBN 978-0-8330-9787-3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 May 2023.
* Filiu, Jean-Pierre (2014). Gaza: A History. Translated by King, John. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190201890.
* Haddad, Toufic (June 2018). "Insurgent Infrastructure: Tunnels of the Gaza Strip". Middle East – Topics & Arguments. 10: 71–85\. doi:10.17192/meta.2018.10.7594. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023.
* Lichtenwald, Terrance G.; Perri, Frank S. (17 June 2013). "Terrorist Use of Smuggling Tunnels". International Journal of Criminology and Sociology. 2: 210–226\. doi:10.6000/1929-4409.2013.02.21. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 February 2020.
* Pelham, Nicholas (Summer 2012). "Gaza's Tunnel Phenomenon: The Unintended Dynamics of Israel's Siege". Journal of Palestine Studies. 41 (4). University of California Press: 6–31\. doi:10.1525/jps.2012.xli.4.6. JSTOR 10.1525/jps.2012.XLI.4.6.
* Rodman, David (2019). Combined Arms Warfare in Israeli Military History: From the War of Independence to Operation Protective Edge. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 9781845199678.
* Rubenstein, Daniel (2015). "Hamas' Tunnel Network: A Massacre in the Making". In Goodman, Hirsh; Gold, Dore (eds.). The Gaza War 2014: The War Israel Did Not Want and the Disaster It Averted (PDF). Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. pp. 119–129\. ISBN 9789652181251. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 August 2023.
* Shamir, Eitan; Hecht, Eado (1 December 2014). "Gaza 2014: Israel's Attrition vs Hamas' Exhaustion". The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters. 44 (4): 81–90\. doi:10.55540/0031-1723.2972. S2CID 152753536. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023.
* Shapir, Yiftah S.; Perel, Gal (2014). "Subterranean Warfare: A New-Old Challenge". In Kurz, Anat; Brom, Shlomo (eds.). The Lessons of Operation Protective Edge (PDF). Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 October 2021.
* Slesinger, Ian (8 February 2018). "A Cartography of the Unknowable: Technology, Territory and Subterranean Agencies in Israel's Management of the Gaza Tunnels". Geopolitics. 25: 71–85\. doi:10.1080/14650045.2017.1399878. S2CID 149236341.
* Watkins, Nicole J.; James, Alena M. (Spring 2016). "Digging Into Israel: The Sophisticated Tunneling Network of Hamas". Journal of Strategic Security. 9 (1): 84–103\. doi:10.5038/1944-0472.9.1.1508. S2CID 264300495. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022.
* Weizman, Eyal (2007). Hollow Land: Israel's Architecture of Occupation. New York: Verso. ISBN 978-1-78663-448-1.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Palestinian tunnel warfare in the Gaza Strip.

* The Gaza Tunnel Industry, Israel Defense Forces (including photos), 2018
* Peering Into Darkness Beneath the Israel-Gaza Border, The New York Times, 25 July 2014 (including a map of some of the tunnels)
* IDF footage of tunnel entrance built in basement of Gaza mosque

* v
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* e

2014 Gaza War

Main topics|

* Timeline
* Israeli strikes and Palestinian casualties
* Beach bombings
* Deif family killings
* Battle of Shuja'iyya
* Black Friday
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* Ben Gurion Airport flight bans
* Israeli shelling of UNRWA Gaza shelters

Background|

* Gaza–Israel conflict
* Gaza War (2008–2009)
* Blockade of the Gaza Strip
* Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel
* 2014
* Beitunia killings
* Kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers
* Kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir

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* Reactions
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* Impact on video games

Other|

* Timeline of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2014
* Palestinian tunnel warfare
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* Roof knocking
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attack on
Israel|

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Attacks on
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* Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion
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Other attacks|

* Airstrikes on municipal services in Gaza
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* 13 July 2024 al-Mawasi attack
* Khan Yunis
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* Beit Lahia attacks
* Beit Lahia airstrike
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* AI-assisted targeting
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Other
theaters|

| Israel|

* Lehi Street bombing
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|

West Bank|

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* Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus
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Red Sea crisis
(Timeline)|

* Operation Prosperity Guardian
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Other|

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Hostages|

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Captive|

* Evyatar David

Rescued|

* 2024 Rafah hostage raid
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Released|

* Yarden Roman-Gat
* Mia Schem
* Naama Levy
* Liri Albag
* Eli Sharabi
* Edan Alexander
* Omer Shem Tov
* Agam Berger
* Emily Damari

Deceased|

* Alex Dancyg
* Hersh Goldberg-Polin
* Alon Shamriz, Yotam Haim, and Samer Talalka
* Oded Lifshitz
* Shani Louk
* Kidnapping and killing of the Bibas family

General
topics|

* 2023 ceasefire
* 2025 ceasefire
* COGAT
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* Effect on children in Gaza
* Hannibal Directive
* Humanitarian aid
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* Israeli interrogations
* LGBTQ advocacy in the Gaza war
* Women
* Wikipedia

Historical context|

* Arab–Israeli conflict
* International law
* Gaza–Israel conflict
* Casualties of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip
* Human rights violations
* Human shields
* Israeli demolition of Palestinian property
* Israeli settlement
* Legality of Israeli settlements
* Israeli outpost
* Israeli settler violence
* Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip
* Legitimacy of the State of Israel
* Palestinian freedom of movement
* Palestinian rocket attacks
* Palestinian tunnel warfare
* anti-tunnel barrier
* Israeli assassinations
* Women

Effects|

* Economic impact
* Evacuations
* Gaza Strip evacuations
* Israeli government response
* Israeli war cabinet
* Israeli public diplomacy
* Mass detentions
* Media coverage
* Violence against journalists
* Misinformation
* Pallywood
* Palestinian genocide accusation
* Sexual violence against Palestinians
* War crimes
* Hamas
* Israeli
* Cemetery destruction and necroviolence
* Israeli torture in the occupied territories
* Proposed Israeli resettlement of Gaza

Humanitarian crisis|

* Famine
* Flotillas
* 2024 Gaza Freedom Flotilla
* May 2025 drone attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla
* June 2025 Gaza Freedom Flotilla
* July 2025 Gaza Freedom Flotilla
* Gaza floating pier
* Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
* Global March to Gaza
* Soumoud Convoy
* Healthcare collapse
* Polio epidemic
* Premature baby crisis
* Societal breakdown
* WCNSF

Reactions|

* Calls for a ceasefire
* September 2024 Israel hostage deal protests
* Diplomatic impact
* Egypt
* European Union
* United Kingdom
* Islamic Summit Conference
* Arab–Islamic extraordinary summit
* Hurmat-e-Masjid Aqsa Conference
* Cancellation of the 2023 MTV EMA
* Donald Trump's Gaza Strip proposal
* Proposed Israeli resettlement of the Gaza Strip
* 2024 Beijing Declaration
* Hague Group
* Bogotá summit
* University donors
* July 2025 Conference on the Implementation of the Two-State Solution

Military aid|

* US support for Israel
* German support for Israel

Discrimination|

* Antisemitism
* Riots in the North Caucasus
* Anti-Palestinianism
* Islamophobia
* Violent incidents
* Murder of Wadea al-Fayoume
* Death of Paul Kessler
* Vermont student shooting
* Killing of Israeli Embassy workers
* Boulder fire attack

Protests|

* 2024 University campuses
* List of protests
* Netherlands
* United States
* California
* Reactions
* The Encampments
* 2025 University campuses
* Netherlands
* Australia
* Bangladesh
* March for Gaza
* France
* March for the Republic and Against Antisemitism
* Indonesia
* 2023 Bitung clashes
* Israel
* Humanitarian aid blockade
* New Zealand
* Spain
* 2024 pro-Palestinian strike
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Artists4Ceasefire
* DNC protests
* March on Washington for Gaza
* March for Israel
* National March on Washington: Free Palestine
* Protest votes
* Self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell
* Pakistan
* D-Chowk Dharna
* 2024 Faizabad sit-in
* Gaza Strip
* 2025 Gaza Strip anti-Hamas protests

UN resolutions|

* A/RES/ES-10/21
* S/RES/2712
* A/RES/ES-10/22
* S/RES/2720
* S/RES/2728
* A/RES/ES-10/23
* S/RES/2735

UN inquiry|

* Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Global courts|

* South Africa v. Israel (Genocide Convention)
* Nicaragua v. Germany
* Legal Consequences of Israeli Policies and Practices
* ICC investigation in Palestine
* Arrest warrants

Courts|

* Defense for Children International – Palestine v. Biden

Casualties|

| Israel|

| Security forces|

* Alim Abdallah
* Yitzhak Ben-Bashat
* Jayar Davidov
* Eli Ginsberg
* Salman Habaka
* Asaf Hamami
* Yitzhar Hofman
* Roi Levy
* Izhar Peled
* Yonatan Steinberg
* Ehsan Daxa

|

Civilians|

* Lior Asulin
* Hayim Katsman
* Ofir Libstein
* Shani Louk
* Aner Shapira
* Vivian Silver
* Yahav Winner

Palestine|

| Hamas|

* Ismail Haniyeh
* Yahya Sinwar
* Saleh al-Arouri
* Fouad Abu Butihan
* Abdul Fatah Dukhan
* Mohammed Dababish
* Wissam Farhat
* Ahmed Ghandour
* Mohammed Deif
* Marwan Issa
* Fursan Khalifa
* Rafa Salama
* Osama Mazini
* Ayman Nofal
* Jamila al-Shanti
* Ali Al Qadi
* Alaa Shreiteh
* Faiq Al-Mabhouh
* Rawhi Mushtaha
* Jihad Shehadeh

|

Civilians|

* Tawfic Abdel Jabbar
* Majed Abu Maraheel
* Hiba Abu Nada
* Refaat Alareer
* Hammam Alloh
* Nahida and Samar Anton
* Ibrahim al-Astal
* Ahmad Bahar
* Mohammed Barakat
* Mohammad Bhar
* David Ben Avraham
* Adnan al-Bursh
* Rashid Dabour
* Mohamed al-Dalou
* Awni El-Dous
* Omar Ferwana
* Fathi Ghaben
* Ihab al-Ghussein
* Medo Halimy
* Sidra Hassouna
* Yazan al-Kafarneh
* Mohammad Khdour
* Hani Al-Masdar
* Ibrahim Qusaya
* Hind Rajab
* Mohammed Shabir
* Rashad Abu Sakhila
* Omar Abu Shawish
* Sufian Tayeh
* Wael Al Zard
* Talal Abu Zarifa
* Shaban al-Dalou
* Mahasen al-Khateeb
* Nagham Abu Samra
* Awda Hathaleen
* Suleiman Obeid

Spillover|

* Saleh al-Arouri
* Ali Hussein Barji
* Waibhav Anil Kale
* Razi Mousavi
* Wissam al-Tawil
* Sadegh Omidzadeh
* Mushtaq Talib Al-Saeedi
* Mohammad Reza Zahedi
* Fuad Shukr
* Ibrahim Aqil
* Hassan Nasrallah
* Ali Karaki
* Nabil Qaouk
* Abbas Nilforoushan
* Fatah Sharif
* Hashem Safieddine
* Mohammad Afif

Journalists|

* Issam Abdallah
* Samer Abu Daqqa
* Adel Zorob
* Ismail al-Ghoul
* Belal Jadallah
* Wafa Al-Udaini
* Hossam Shabat
* Fatima Hassouna
* Yahya Sobeih
* Hassan Aslih
* Ismail Abu Hatab
* List of journalists killed in the Gaza war

General topics|

* Children in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Related
people|

| Israelis|

* Sofie Berzon MacKie
* Batia Holin
* Nimrod Aloni
* Rachel Goldberg-Polin
* Einav Zangauker
* Yonatan Shamriz
* Omri Ronen
* Eitan Okun
* Yagel Oshri
* Inbal Rabin-Lieberman
* Amir Tibon

|

Palestinians|

* Mosab Abu Toha
* Wael Al-Dahdouh
* Plestia Alaqad
* Motaz Azaiza
* Bisan Owda
* Mustafa Moien Ayyash
* Hind Khoudary

Other
topics|

* 2024 Israeli secret document leak scandal
* Ahmed Abdel Khalek
* Al-Saqqa House
* Al Qarara Cultural Museum
* "All Eyes on Rafah"
* Attacks on US bases during the Gaza war
* Blockout 2024
* Eliminate Hamas and bring the hostages home
* From Ground Zero
* "From the river to the sea"
* Gaza Daily
* "Globalize the intifada"
* "Harbu Darbu"
* "Hind's Hall"
* Hind Rajab Foundation
* "Hurricane"
* Israeli demolition of Palestinian property
* "Leve Palestina"
* No Tech for Apartheid
* Palestine exception
* Palestinian sports during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
* "Options for a policy regarding Gaza's civilian population"
* Project Nimbus
* "Rajieen"

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Gaza–Israel conflict

History|

* 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight
* Palestinian refugees
* History of the Gaza Strip
* History of Ashkelon
* History of Hamas

Pre-2006|

* 1956
* Khan Yunis massacre
* Rafah massacre
* First Intifada
* Second Intifada and aftermath in 2000–2005
* Killing of Muhammad al-Durrah
* 2004 Israeli operation in Rafah
* 2004 Beit Hanoun raid
* 2004 Israeli operation
* Israeli disengagement

2006|

* Jan
* Palestinian legislative election
* Jun
* Gaza beach explosion
* Gaza cross-border raid
* Jun–Nov
* 2006 Gaza–Israel conflict
* Oct–Nov
* 2006 Israeli operation in Beit Hanoun
* Nov
* Beit Hanoun shelling

2008|

* Jan–Feb
* Egypt–Gaza border breach
* Feb–Mar
* Operation Hot Winter
* Apr
* Jun–Dec
* Israel–Hamas ceasefire
* Dec
* Gaza War (2008–2009)

2009|

* Jan
* Gaza War (2008–2009)
* Timeline
* Incidents
* Casualties
* Effects
* Feb–Mar
* Israeli attacks
* Apr
* UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict

2010|

* Mar
* Israel–Gaza clashes
* May
* Gaza Freedom Flotilla
* 2010 Gaza flotilla raid

2011|

* Jul
* Freedom Flotilla II
* Aug
* 2011 southern Israel cross-border attacks

2012|

* Mar
* March 2012 Gaza–Israel clashes
* Nov
* 2012 Gaza War
* Timeline
* Reactions

2014|

* July 2014 Gaza War
* List of Israeli strikes and Palestinian casualties in the 2014 Gaza War
* August
* UN Fact Finding Mission on the 2014 conflict

2015|

* May–Jun
* Freedom Flotilla III

2018|

* Mar
* Gaza border protests
* Palestinian airborne arson attacks
* Nov
* Gaza–Israel clashes

2019|

* May
* Gaza–Israel clashes
* November
* Gaza–Israel clashes

2020|

* Feb
* Killing and dismemberment of Muhammad al-Na'im

2021|

* May
* Israel–Palestine crisis

2022|

* Aug
* 2022 Gaza–Israel clashes

2023|

* Apr
* Al-Aqsa clashes
* May
* Clashes
* October
* Gaza war

2024|

Proposed Israeli resettlement of the Gaza Strip

Lists|

* Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel
* 2001
* 2002–2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

Related
topics|

* Gaza Strip
* Israeli–Palestinian conflict
* Gaza–Israel barrier
* Gaza Strip under Hamas
* Fatah–Hamas conflict
* Iran–Israel proxy war
* Gaza Strip blockade (since 2007)
* Israeli support for Hamas
* Gaza genocide
* International Criminal Court investigation in Palestine

* v
* t
* e

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

History

Participants

| Israelis|

* Israel Defense Forces
* Israel Police
* Mossad
* Shabak (Shin Bet)

|

Palestinians|

| Principals|

* All-Palestine Protectorate
* Palestine Liberation Organization
* Fatah
* Hamas
* Palestinian Authority

|

Other groups|

* al-Aqsa Brigades
* Children
* DFLP
* Jenin Brigades
* Lions' Den
* PIJ
* PLF
* PPSF
* PFLP
* PFLP-GC
* PRC
* Sabireen Movement
* Sons of Zouari
* Tulkarm Brigade

Third-party groups|

* Arab League
* Hezbollah

Individuals

| Israelis|

* Moshe Arens
* Ami Ayalon
* Ehud Barak
* David Ben-Gurion
* Naftali Bennett
* Menachem Begin
* Meir Dagan
* Moshe Dayan
* Avi Dichter
* Yuval Diskin
* Benny Gantz
* Efraim Halevy
* Dan Halutz
* Tzipi Livni
* Golda Meir
* Shaul Mofaz
* Yitzhak Mordechai
* Benjamin Netanyahu
* Ehud Olmert
* Shimon Peres
* Yaakov Peri
* Yitzhak Rabin
* Amnon Lipkin-Shahak
* Yitzhak Shamir
* Ariel Sharon
* Shabtai Shavit
* Moshe Ya'alon
* Danny Yatom
* Zvi Zamir

|

Palestinians|

* Abu Abbas
* Mahmoud Abbas
* Moussa Arafat
* Yasser Arafat
* Yahya Ayyash
* Marwan Barghouti
* Mohammed Dahlan
* Mohammed Deif
* George Habash
* Wadie Haddad
* Ismail Haniyeh
* Nayef Hawatmeh
* Amin al-Husayni
* Ghazi Jabali
* Ahmed Jibril
* Abu Jihad
* Salah Khalaf
* Leila Khaled
* Sheikh Khalil
* Khaled Mashal
* Zuheir Mohsen
* Abu Ali Mustafa
* Abu Nidal
* Izz ad-Din al-Qassam
* Jibril Rajoub
* Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi
* Ali Hassan Salameh
* Salah Shehade
* Ramadan Shalah
* Fathi Shaqaqi
* Ahlam Tamimi
* Ahmed Yassin

* Timeline
* military operations

| Background|

| 1920–1948|

* 1920
* Nebi Musa riots
* Battle of Tel Hai
* 1921 Jaffa riots
* 1929 Palestine riots
* Hebron massacre
* 1936–1939 Arab revolt
* 1944–1947 Jewish insurgency
* 1947–1948 Civil War / Nakba

|

| 1948–1970|

* 1948 Arab–Israeli War
* massacres
* 1948–present Fedayeen insurgency
* 1951–1967 Attacks against Israeli civilians
* 1950s–1960s Reprisal operations
* 1949–1956 Palestinian expulsions
* 1953 Qibya massacre
* 1956 Suez Crisis / Kafr Qasim / Khan Yunis / Rafah massacres
* 1967 Six-Day War / Naksa
* 1967–1970 War of Attrition
* 1968 Battle of Karameh

|

Palestinian
insurgency

| 1968–1982|

* 1970 Avivim school bus bombing
* 1972 Sabena Flight 571 / Munich massacre / "Bayonet" (1973 Lillehammer affair)
* 1974 Kiryat Shmona massacre / Ma'alot massacre
* 1975 Savoy Hotel attack
* 1976 Entebbe raid
* 1978 Coastal road massacre / South Lebanon conflict
* 1980 Misgav Am hostage crisis

|

| 1973–1987|

* 1973 Yom Kippur War
* 1975 Zion Square bombing
* 1982 Lebanon War
* Siege of Beirut
* 1983 1983 West Bank fainting epidemic
* 1984 Bus 300 affair
* 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking / "Wooden Leg"
* 1987 Night of the Gliders

|

First Intifada|

| 1987–1991|

* 1988 Tunis raid
* 1989 Bus 405 attack
* 1990 Temple Mount killings
* 1990s Palestinian suicide attacks
* list
* 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre

|

Second Intifada|

| 2000–2005|

* Palestinian rocket attacks
* Palestinian suicide attacks
* list
* Israeli assassinations
* 2000 October events
* 2001 Santorini
* 2002 Karine A / "Defensive Shield" / Battle of Jenin / Battle of Nablus / "Determined Path"
* 2003 Ain es Saheb airstrike
* 2004 "Rainbow" / Beit Hanoun raid / "Days of Penitence"

|

Palestinian dissident
campaigns

| 2006–present|

* 2006 "Bringing Home the Goods"
* 2008 Jerusalem yeshiva attack / Jerusalem bulldozer attack
* 2009 Al-Aqsa clashes
* 2010 Palestinian militancy campaign
* 2015–2016 violence
* 2017 Temple Mount crisis
* 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis
* 2022 Al-Aqsa clashes

|

Gaza–Israel
conflict

| 2006–present|

* 2006 Gaza beach explosion / Gaza cross-border raid / "Summer Rains" / "Autumn Clouds" / Beit Hanoun shelling
* 2008 Egypt–Gaza border breach / "Hot Winter"
* 2008–2009 Gaza War
* 2010 Gaza flotilla raid
* 2012 "Returning Echo" / "Pillar of Defense"
* 2014 "Protective Edge"
* 2015 Freedom Flotilla III
* 2018 Gaza border protests / November clashes
* 2019 May clashes / "Black Belt"
* 2021 "Guardian of the Walls"
* 2022 "Breaking Dawn"
* 2023 "Shield and Arrow" / Gaza war

|

Diplomacy/law

| Timeline|

| 1948–1991|

* 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight
* depopulated towns and villages
* 1949 Lausanne Conference
* 1967–present Israeli settlement
* settler violence
* international law

|

1990s|

* 1981–1982 Fahd Plan
* 1991 Madrid Conference
* 1993–1995 Oslo Accords
* 1994 Paris Protocol
* 1994 Gaza–Jericho Agreement
* 1994–present US security assistance to the PA
* 1997 Hebron Agreement
* 1998 Wye River Memorandum
* 1999 Sharm El Sheikh Memorandum

2000s|

* 2000 Camp David Summit / Clinton Parameters
* 2001 Taba Summit
* 2002 Quartet established
* 2003 Road Map
* 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza
* 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access
* 2006 Valley of Peace initiative
* 2007 Annapolis Conference
* 2009 Aftonbladet Israel controversy

2010s|

* 2010–11 Israeli–Palestinian peace talks
* 2011 Palestine Papers
* 2013–2014 Israeli–Palestinian peace talks
* 2023–present Gaza genocide

United Nations|

| General|

* Israel and the UN
* Palestine and the UN
* UNRWA

|

Resolutions|

* List concerning Israel
* List concerning Palestine
* 1947 UNGA Resolution 181
* 1948 UNGA Resolution 194
* 1967 UNSC Resolution 242
* 1980 UNSC Resolution 478
* 2006 UNSC Resolution 1701
* 2012 UNGA Resolution 67/19
* 2023 UNSC Resolution 2720

Investigations|

* 2009 Goldstone Report
* 2015 UNHRC Report

ICJ cases|

* 2004 Wall construction
* 2023–present South African allegation of genocide
* 2024 Nicaragua v. Germany
* 2023–2024 Israeli occupation
* 2024–2025 UNRWA ban

ICC|

* Palestine investigation
* arrest warrants

Analysis

* Anti-Palestinianism
* Comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany
* Criticism
* Criticism of Hamas
* Criticism of Israel
* Israeli criticism of the occupation
* Media coverage
* Racism in Israel
* Racism in Palestine
* Timeline of anti-Zionism
* There was no such thing as Palestinians

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