- By Mayukh Debnath
- Sat, 28 Oct 2023 10:20 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Israel-Hamas War: Amid the ongoing armed conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant outfit Hamas, the Israeli military has accused its enemy of using Gaza's hospitals as a means to cover its vast and highly complicated tunnel system where it has allegedly based several operational centers and hideouts.
"Hamas has turned hospitals into command and control centers and hideouts for Hamas terrorists and commanders," Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, chief spokesperson of the Israel Defence Force (IDF), stated on Friday. Hagari presented photographs, diagrams and audio recordings in an attempt to substantiate IDF's claims.
Since the Vietnam War, tunnels in modern times have proved to be of great importance for lesser-equipped forces battling technologically superior militaries. Such tunnels have been used for both operational purposes, and for incapacitating enemy troops with the use of booby traps.
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The use of the Cu Chi tunnel system by guerilla fighters of the Viet Cong proved to be one of the leading causes of American casualties during the war in Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. Israeli ground forces preparing for a proposed extensive assault on Hamas targets in Gaza are also poised to face the challenge of safely navigating through the man-made, underground tunnels underneath the Palestinian exclave.
What Is 'Gaza Metro'?
A vast network of tunnels runs beneath the Gaza Strip and is believed to have a total length of hundreds of kilometers. Nicknamed 'Gazed Metro', the tunnel system is said to be up to 80 metres beneath the ground at its deepest point. It has been built by Hamas and other Palestinian militant outfits.
Use Of Hamas Tunnels
It has been, for long, speculated and alleged that Hamas uses its tunnels spread beneath the Gaza Strip for, among other possible purposes, to smuggle and transport arms and ammunition, launch surprise raids into Israel, connect rocket launching sites, and to move its fighters without them being detected by Israeli aerial assets.
Hamas is currently using its underground tunnels to hold the people who were abducted during its October 7 rampage in Israeli territory.
What Do Gaza Tunnels Look Like?
As per the account provided by the daughter of Yocheved Lifshitz, the 85-year-old Israeli woman recently released by Hamas, Palestinian militant movements have built "a huge network of tunnels underneath Gaza that looked like a spiderweb".
"There is a whole city all over Gaza underneath with depths of 40-50 metres. There are bunkers and headquarters and storage and, of course, they are connected to more than a thousand rocket launching positions," as per Amir Avivi, a former Israeli brigadier general.
What Are 'Sponge Bombs'?
According to a report by the UK-based Telegraph newspaper, Israel is believed to be in the process of testing a new sort of chemical-based explosive that does not let out a burst of shrapnel and vast heat energy but triggers a chemical reaction that results in the formation of foam that rapidly expands and eventually hardens.
Being dubbed the "sponge bomb", it is expected to act as a game-changer in the Israeli military's planned ground assault on Hamas as it will help it seal off openings arising out of the vast and highly complicated network of tunnels under the densely populated Gaza Strip.
"Sponge bombs" are plastic containers filled with two liquids separated by a metal partition, Telegraph reported. The removal of the metal container will cause the chemical compounds to mix and cause an "explosion" of foam.
How 'Sponge Bombs' Can Save Lives
If "sponge bombs" are able to achieve their desired purpose, the destruction of Hamas attack tunnels would no longer require Israeli forces to bombard above-ground structures, an activity that almost always results in collateral damage.
(Gaza Strip under Israeli bombardment after Hamas unleashed an onslaught in Israel last week. Pic Credits: Reuters)
The use of "sponge bombs" to block tunnels will also minimise the chances of Israeli military personnel facing surprise attacks by Hamas combatants, who are reasonably assumed to possess greater knowledge about the Gaza tunnel system.