War, from tunnels to hostage dilemma: the difficulties of the Israeli blitz in Gaza

THE TUNNELS

• What are the biggest challenges for Israeli troops as they advance deeper into the Gaza Strip? One of the biggest challenges is certainly represented by the complicated urban development of the enclave, but above all the labyrinthine network of underground tunnelscomparable to a gigantic underground military base

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HAMAS’ ADVANTAGE

• Clearing and collapsing those tunnels will be crucial if Israel seeks to dismantle Hamas, as it has promised to do. Today i tunnel offer an undoubted advantage in the asymmetric war that Hamas is waging against Israel, capable of annihilating the technological superiority of their adversaries. No one knows for sure how long these tunnels, the so-called “Gaza metro”, are.

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THE PECULIARITY OF TUNNELS

• Yihyah Sinwar, the head of Hamas in Gaza, said in 2021 that there were 500 kilometers of tunnels in the enclave. If true, Hamas’ underground tunnels would be a little less than half the length of the New York subway. What makes the Hamas tunnels special is that they were built beneath one of the most densely populated areas on the planetwhere nearly 2 million people live crammed into 360 square kilometers

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THE ACCUSATION

• The tunnels are dug deep underground, wired with electricity and reinforced with concrete. Moreover, Israel has often accused Hamas of diverting concrete intended for civilian and humanitarian purposes towards the construction of the underground tunnel network

SECRET COMMUNICATIONS

• Furthermore, according to American intelligence sources, in the last two years, the tunnels were used by the small cell of militiamen who planned the surprise attack against Israel on October 7: without cell phones or computers, thanks to wired telephone linesthe militiamen were able to communicate with each other in secret and evade detection by Israeli or US intelligence

DIFFICULTIES’

• The intricate corridors, larger rooms and warehouses on several floors where humidity is high, make It’s easy to get disoriented and lose track of time. Once underground, it is also difficult to communicate with the surface, because the GPS often does not work if a soldier is injured it becomes very difficult to help him

THE NEW WEAPON

• To avoid entering this deadly trap, the Israelis could experiment with a new type of weapon, the ‘sponge bombs‘. The new bomb consists of a large plastic container with two chambers, in each of which there is a chemical substance

HOW DOES IT WORK

• Once the container is brought into one of the tunnels, by hand or thanks to a remote-controlled vehicle, it is detonated with remote ignition. The two chemicals mix and form a foam, hence the bomb’s name, and in a very short time, the foam becomes a concrete-hard solid that it seals the surrounding spaces, trapping anyone inside

THE HOSTAGE DILEMMA

• Destroying these tunnels is very complicated, also because they are located in an urban environment with civilians. The question is how to measure the force used, given the possibility that all or some of the hostages kidnapped on October 7, who are in the hands of Hamas and other Palestinian militias, siano right in the tunnels