In Gaza, Israelis show a tunnel wide enough for cars

The tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip is wide enough for a large car, reinforced with concrete and equipped with electrical wiring. And at least one section of the tunnel — which Israel says is the largest it has discovered so far in Gaza — is within walking distance of an Israeli border crossing.

Israeli military officials, who took a group of reporters, including two journalists from The New York Times, to the tunnel on Friday, say its size and complexity demonstrate the scale of the challenge they face as they try to root out Hamas. The group has built a network of tunnels across Gaza that allows it to evade and attack Israeli forces, the army says.

The military arranged the tour as Israel comes under increasing pressure to conclude the most intense phase of the war within weeks to try to limit the death toll; Nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

The Biden administration envisions Israel shifting from its massive ground and air campaign to one in which elite forces carry out more precise, intelligence-based missions to find and kill Hamas leaders and rescue hostages captured during the group’s attack on Israel on October 7. , US officials say.

The size of the tunnel the journalists toured through on Friday and its proximity to the border was a reminder not only of the challenges that await Israel, but also of its inability to prevent the construction of such a structure in the first place.

But Israeli military chief spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, who was among the officials leading the tour, said it was important to note that the tunnel was evidence that Hamas has diverted building materials, especially concrete, from civilian use .

“This tunnel has been built for years,” he said. “Millions of dollars have been spent on this tunnel, hundreds of tons of cement, a lot of electricity. Instead of spending them all – the money, the cement, the electricity – on hospitals, schools, housing and other needs of Gazans.”

The Times agreed to wait until Sunday to publish details of the tour, but otherwise no restrictions were placed on how the visit would be reported. The journalists were escorted the entire time and were not allowed to wander further into the tunnel, with Israeli forces stopping journalists at about 150 to 200 meters, approximately 650 feet.

But even in that short stretch it was possible to see that the tunnel stretched ahead for a great distance. Vertical shafts extended from the main tube, which Israeli officers said suggests the tunnel may be connected to a larger network deeper within the earth.

Two military officials interviewed after the tour said recently gathered intelligence indicated Israel grossly underestimated the size of the underground network. The system, which the Army previously estimated was about 60 miles long, is now believed to be closer to 250 miles long, they said.

These claims and others about the tunnels could not be independently verified.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has dug a warren of tunnels under the enclave for years, according to Israeli officials. The network, which reportedly snakes under dense residential areas through much of the strip, is a veritable subway system for the militant group, using the labyrinth to hide and transport weapons and fighters.

The tunnels have been a prime target for attacks since Israel declared war on Hamas in the aftermath of the October 7 attack on Israel that killed an estimated 1,200 people. But as international anger grows over the civilian deaths in Gaza, some Israeli officials say they have tried to think of alternative ways to destroy the tunnels besides bombing.

Over the past month, Israeli military engineers have experimented with pumping seawater into tunnels in northern Gaza in an effort to drive out any fighters hiding there, according to Israeli military officials interviewed after the tour who spoke on condition anonymity because they weren’t. authorized to speak publicly about the effort. It’s unclear whether the technique will work given the force required to move water through the system’s multiple spurs, officials said.

In addition to arranging Friday’s tour, the Israeli military also provided reporters a video showing men digging a tunnel with large earth-moving machines. The military said it obtained the video when it raided Hamas offices during its ground invasion. The video shows that the work is being carried out in a large building that resembles a warehouse.

It was unclear where the video was shot, but the Israeli military said the video showed construction of the tunnel where a tour was given Friday.

Two officials said Israeli leaders were surprised by the content of the video because they had not realized that Hamas had access to this type of earth-moving equipment, which can build very large tunnels more safely and quickly. Until the discovery of the video, officials said they believed only Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon, and not Hamas, could build such large tunnels.

The military said the tunnel where it conducted the tour was the first it had found that was large enough to allow cars or other vehicles through.

The army was released on Sunday another video that said a brother of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza, was driven through the tunnel in a car. The military said the presence of Sinwar’s brother Muhammed – who is also considered a top Hamas leader and his brother’s confidante – indicated the strategic importance of this tunnel.

The underground corridors have become a central part of the information war that is also being fought over Gaza.

Last month, when Israeli forces moved to occupy Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, which they said provided cover for an underground Hamas base, the militants and hospital officials insisted that the facility be used only to treat patients.

But after Israeli soldiers captured Al-Shifa, they conducted a tour where journalists were shown a 100-meter tunnel section and rooms beneath the hospital. The military argued that the tunnel, along with weapons it said were found at the hospital and surveillance videos of hostages being brought in by armed men, supported its decision to send its troops there.