Inside the ‘terror tunnels’ of Gaza: Extraordinary video taken within 300-mile snaking network illustrates momentous task facing Israel as they fight Hamas
This extraordinary video, filmed in the ‘terror tunnels’ beneath Gaza, graphically illustrates the enormity of the task facing Israelis in their attempt to root out and eliminate Hamas.
A reporter from Russia Today (RT) had a rare visit inside the so-called ‘Gaza Metro’, which winds up to 500 kilometers beneath the war-torn enclave.
When the clip appeared, senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk was asked by another RT interviewer why they were not allowing the besieged civilian population to take shelter from the bombing in the tunnels.
His answer spoke volumes: ‘Protecting civilians in Gaza is the responsibility of the UN and Israel… We built the tunnels to protect ourselves from being targeted and killed. These are to protect us from the planes.’
The RT journalist entered the network by being lowered 60 meters underground using an electric hoist.
A reporter from Russia Today (RT) had a rare visit inside the so-called ‘Gaza Metro’, which winds up to 500 kilometers beneath the war-torn enclave. Once downstairs, the reporter can stand up and walk past rows of propaganda posters as masked terrorists from Hamas’s allies, Islamic Jihad, crouch with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
It is believed the footage was filmed before the current conflict, but one of the terrorists tells the interviewer that the young fighters behind him are willing to stay there for “days or months.”
All sides of the tunnels are lined with reinforced concrete and the roof is curved to add extra strength.
Once downstairs, the reporter can stand up and walk past rows of propaganda posters, as masked terrorists from Hamas’s allies, Islamic Jihad, crouch with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
The footage is believed to have been shot before the current conflict, but one of the terrorists tells the interviewer that the young fighters behind him are willing to stay there for “days or months.”
Hamas military engineers have become adept at rigging the concrete-lined tunnels and installing ventilation, electric lighting and telephone lines, all of which can be seen as the reporter weaves his way through the terrorists.
The film also shows terrorists running through the tunnels with weapons, while others dig by hand to expand the network even further.
A Palestinian walks among the rubble after an Israeli airstrike in the Al Sheikh Redwan neighborhood in northern Gaza City on Tuesday
Israeli forces planned to invade the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday and were stationed in the Al-Tawam area and Al-Karama neighborhood in the Palestinian enclave.
Palestinians search for survivors Tuesday in the rubble of a building in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip
In 2014, a reporter from Hamas’ own newspaper joined a team of diggers and described them as “bees in a beehive,” adding that they were motivated by the belief that “every inch they dig helps save the blood of an Israeli to kill a soldier or kidnap one.’
After many tunnels were found and destroyed by the Israelis during the 2014 Gaza war, a monitoring process was designed to prevent Hamas from using construction materials to build tunnels.
But despite CCTV cameras on construction sites and a difficult approval process, Hamas was able to seize or buy the materials they needed on the black market.
Recycled concrete and rubble from destroyed houses and scrap metal were also used and in 2021, Israeli newspaper Haaretz claimed that poor oversight of the system meant that Israel effectively supplied Hamas with concrete for the tunnel construction.