Palestinian tunnel warfare in the Gaza Strip

Not to be confused with Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels.

IDF soldier overlooking an uncovered tunnel in the Gaza Strip

In the Gaza Strip, the governing authority Hamas developed a sophisticated network of military tunnels. The tunnel system branches beneath many Gazan towns and cities, such as Khan Yunis, Jabalia and the Shati refugee camp.[1] The internal tunnels, running some dozens of kilometres within the Gaza Strip,[2] have several functions. Hamas uses the tunnels to hide its arsenal of rocketry underground, to facilitate communication, to permit munition stocks to be hidden and to conceal militants, making detection from the air difficult.[3] Hamas regards their tunnel system as a defensive structure designed to place obstacles against Israel's powerful military arsenal, to protect its people, and engage in counter-strikes against the IDF when Gaza is attacked.[4]

The cross-border tunnels were used in the capture of Gilad Shalit in 2006, and multiple times during the 2014 conflict.[5] Destroying the tunnels was a primary objective of Israeli forces in the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.[6] The IDF reported that it "neutralized" 32 tunnels, fourteen of which crossed into Israel.[7] On at least four occasions during the conflict, Palestinian militants crossing the border through the tunnels engaged in combat with Israeli soldiers. In practice, only Israeli military targets have successfully been attacked through them.[8][9] The UNHRC Commission of Inquiry on the Gaza Conflict found "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."[10] Israeli officials condemned the UNHRC report.[11]

The UN Commission of Inquiry found the tunnels "caused great anxiety among Israelis that the tunnels might be used to attack civilians."[10] Ihab al-Ghussein, spokesman for the Hamas-run interior ministry, describes the tunnels as an exercise of Gaza's "right to protect itself."[12]

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."[13] The Israeli government refers to cross-border tunnels as "attack tunnels" or "terror tunnels."[14][15] According to Israel, the tunnels enabled the launch of rockets by remote control,[2] and were intended to facilitate hostage-taking[15][16][17][18][19] and mass-casualty attacks.[14][20]

Origins and construction

Photograph of a recently uncovered hidden tunnel in Gaza

The tunnel construction employed in the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict has its origins in the tunnels into Egypt that were constructed to overcome Egyptian and Israeli economic blockade on the coastal enclave which has been in effect since 2007.[21][22]

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,[23] and have been described by former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya as representative of "a new strategy in confronting the occupation and in the conflict with the enemy from underground and from above the ground."[22] 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."[24]

The Israeli military has provided estimates that Hamas spent around $30 to $90 million, and poured 600,000 tons of concrete, in order to build three dozen tunnels.[25][26] Some tunnels were estimated to have cost $3 million to construct.[27][28]

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.[29] Hamas used electric or pneumatic jackhammers for digging tunnels. Tunnels were dug 18–25 meters (60–82 feet) underground at the rate of 4–5 meters a day.[29] 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.[29]

Strategic objectives

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.[21][30] Palestinian military personnel in Gaza explained to news Web site 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.[31] 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.[31][32]

A separate Al-Monitor report describes 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.[33] The report states 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."[33] Twenty-three militants in the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, survived Israeli shelling on 17 July and remained alive but trapped in a tunnel until the early August ceasefire.[34]

A tour of a Palestinian attack tunnel.

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.[35]

The Israeli government has called the tunnels "terror tunnels," stating that they have a potential to target civilians and soldiers in Israel.[14][32] 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 and infiltrate Israeli territory, killing and/or abducting Israeli citizens.[20]

An unnamed "senior intelligence source" told The Times of Israel on 28 July 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.[8] On 31 July IDF Army Radio quoted an unnamed "senior military official" as saying "all the tunnels were aimed at military targets and not at the Gaza-vicinity communities".[9]

A column in the Wall Street Journal cited Yigal Carmon, head of the Middle East Media Research Institute who claimed that it was the tunnels, and not the 2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers 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. A 5 July Israeli airstrike 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. 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.[36]

Alan Dershowitz argued that the goal of the tunnels was to facilitate "mass casualties and kidnappings", citing the proximity of tunnel exits to civilian targets such as Israeli kindergartens as well as the 17 July "attempted mass casualty attack" that preceded Israel's ground incursion. Dershowitz stated: "No country should have to tolerate this breach of its sovereignty and this danger to the lives of its civilians."[37]

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.[38]

Kidnapping/hostage taking

Kidnapping or taking Israeli civilians or soldiers hostage has been described as one of the primary goals of tunnel construction.[32] The Wall Street Journal described an attack tunnel inspected by one of its reporters as, "designed for launching murder and kidnapping raids. 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."[39] In October 2013, according to the newspaper Haaretz, "The IDF's working assumption (wa)s that such tunnels will be made operative whenever there is an escalation in the area, whether initiated by Hamas or by Israel, and will be used for attacks and abduction attempts. If Hamas initiates such an escalation while holding several Israeli citizens or soldiers, it would be in a much stronger position."[40] According to the New York Times, one tunnel contained "a kidnapping kit of tranquilizers and plastic handcuffs" to facilitate kidnapping.[6][41]

Israel's tunnel detection

According to Israel, between January and October 2013, three tunnels under the border were identified, two of which were packed with explosives.[6][42][43] On 11 August 2014 the IDF announced they had successfully tested a system that could be used to detect these tunnels.[44] This new system uses a combination of sensors and special transmitters to locate underground tunnels.[45] The IDF expects development to cost up to NIS 1.5 billion, and could be deployed within the year.[46]

Use in attacks

In the 2006 Gaza cross-border raid, Palestinian militants used a tunnel to abduct Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.[32]

On 17 July 2014, Hamas militants crossed the Israeli border through a tunnel about a mile away from the farming village of Sufa but were stopped by Israeli Defense Forces. Israeli authorities claimed the purpose had been to attack civilians.[16][47] Residents also expressed fears that the purpose of the incursion was to commit a massacre.[16]

On 21 July 2014, two squads of armed Palestinian militants crossed the Israeli border 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."[8][48]

On 28 July Hamas militants attacked an Israeli military outpost near Nahal Oz using a tunnel, killing five Israeli soldiers. One attacker was also killed.[49]

On 1 August 2014, Hamas militants emerging from a tunnel attacked an Israeli patrol in Rafah, thus violating a humanitatian ceacefire,[50] killing two Israeli soldiers. Israel at first believed that the militants had abducted Lieutenant Hadar Goldin and were holding him, but Israel later determined that Goldin had also been killed.[51]

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. 1 2 William Booth,'Here's what really happened in the Gaza war according to the Israelis,' Washington Post 3 September 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014
  3. ↑ Jim Michaels,'Extent of tunnels under Gaza takes Israel by surprise,' USA Today 31 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Adam Ciralsky, 'Hamas’s Khalid Mishal on the Gaza War, Tunnels, and ISIS,' Vanity Fair 21 October 2014.
  5. ↑ Gal Perl Finkel, The IDF vs subterranean warfare, The Jerusalem Post, August 16, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Rudoren, Jodi (28 July 2014). "Tunnels Lead Right to the Heart of Israeli Fear". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  7. ↑ Israel Defense Forces (2014-08-05). "Operation Protective Edge by the Numbers". The Official Blog of the Israel Defense Forces. Retrieved 2015-06-23.
  8. 1 2 3 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.
  9. 1 2 "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'..."
  10. 1 2 United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict (2015-06-22). 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.
  11. ↑ "UN report: Tunnels into Israel legitimately targeted IDF". Times of Israel. 22 June 2015.
  12. ↑ "Palestinian government criticises UN position on Gaza tunnel". Middle East Monitor. 23 October 2013. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  13. ↑ United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict (2015-06-22). 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’.”
  14. 1 2 3 "Behind the headlines: Hamas' terror tunnels". Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 22 July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  15. 1 2 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.
  16. 1 2 3 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.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ Halevi, Jonathan. "Hamas's Attack Tunnels: Analysis and Initial Implications". Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  19. ↑ McCoy, Terrance (21 July 2014). "How Hamas uses its tunnels to kill and capture Israeli soldiers". The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  20. 1 2 "Report: Hamas planned Rosh Hashanah attack through Gaza tunnels". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 28 July 2014. Archived from the original on 30 July 2014., citing "חמאס תכנן: מאות מחבלים יגיחו ממנהרות בראש השנה". he:nrg. 25 July 2014. Archived from the original on 30 July 2014.
  21. 1 2 Pelham, Nicholas (Summer 2012). "Gaza's Tunnel Phenomenon: The Unintended Dynamics of Israel's Siege". Journal of Palestine Studies. University of California Press. 41 (4): 6. doi:10.1525/jps.2012.xli.4.6. JSTOR 10.1525/jps.2012.XLI.4.6. (subscription required (help)).
  22. 1 2 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.
  23. ↑ 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.
  24. ↑ 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.
  25. ↑ 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.
  26. ↑ 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.
  27. ↑ Levs, Josh (30 July 2014). "Gaza Conflict Numbers". CNN. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  28. ↑ 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
  29. 1 2 3 Newman, Marissa (11 August 2014). "Hamas said to have executed dozens of tunnel diggers". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  30. ↑ Sherwood, Harriet (2 August 2014). "Inside the tunnels Hamas built: Israel's struggle against new tactic in Gaza war". The Observer. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  31. 1 2 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.
  32. 1 2 3 4 McCoy, Terrence (21 July 2014). "How Hamas uses its tunnels to kill and capture Israeli soldiers". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  33. 1 2 Eldar, Shlomi (July 2014). "Gaza tunnels take IDF by surprise". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  34. ↑ "23 Palestinian fighters in Gaza escape certain death in collapsed tunnel". Middle East Monitor. 7 August 2014. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  35. ↑ Halevi, Jonathan D. "Hamas's Attack Tunnels: Analysis and Initial Implications". Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  36. ↑ Mukasey, Michael B. (20 July 2014). "Tunnels Matter More Than Rockets to Hamas". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  37. ↑ Dershowitz, Alan (21 July 2014). "Israel Must Take Out Hamas Terror Tunnels". Newsmax. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  38. ↑ "The U.S. should push for the disarming of Hamas in Gaza-Israel cease-fire". Washington Post. 23 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  39. ↑ 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. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  40. ↑ 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.
  41. ↑ Goldberg, Jeffrey (28 July 2014). "Destroying Hamas's kidnapping tunnels only way to protect Israelis". National Post. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  42. ↑ Fiske, Gavriel and Ginsburg (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.
  43. ↑ 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.
  44. ↑ "Israel tests system to detect Hamas tunnels". i24news. 17 July 2014. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014.
  45. ↑ Kipnees, Shira (17 July 2014). "Israel Tests New Terror Tunnel Detection System". Israel. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014.
  46. ↑ "IDF successfully tests system designed to detect terror tunnels". Jerusalem Post. 11 August 2014. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014.
  47. ↑ Lappin, Yaakov (17 July 2014). "IDF thwarts Gaza terrorists from attempted tunnel infiltration into Israel". Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  48. ↑ 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.
  49. ↑ 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.
  50. ↑ "IDF: Israeli soldier probably captured". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 1 August 2014. Archived from the original on 16 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  51. ↑ 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.
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