Israeli soldiers, based on the testimony of some freed hostages, confirmed the existence of the tunnels beneath the Palestinian city.
Underground. Leaders of the Israeli armed forces declared having discovered a network of tunnels that “extend under the center of Gaza City”. They also added that they would go “from properties registered in the name of Yahya Sinwar and others senior Hamas officials”whom they labeled as possible authors of the attacks on October 7 against Israel.
The tunnels were found when soldiers “they secured a central area of the city in recent days,” Israeli government spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner.
What would the tunnels found by the Israelis be like?
“They can be accessed by spiral stairs and an elevator up to 20 meters underground”, they added later. Apparently they would have electricity, plumbing, surveillance cameras and heavy armored doors, as can be seen in the images shared by the army with journalists.
“This complex, both above and below ground, was a center of power for the military and political factions of Hamas”Lerner added. The Reuters agency could not verify independently the information provided.
The tunnels were used by senior Hamas officials as Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Muhammad Deifto direct operations and thus conduct their “protected daily trips” through the center of Gaza City, as the Israeli army stated in a statement.
Hamas, which rejects the accusation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
For Israel, Sinwar and Muhammad Deif would be “possible perpetrators of the October 7 attack”
It is believed that Sinwar and Deif they would be behind the attacks on October 7, led by Hamas, in which 1,200 people died and which triggered an Israeli attack on Gaza, causing the death Of nails 20,000 people and forcing the majority of its 2.3 million inhabitants to flee from their homes.
Hamas has long claimed that its tunnel network It has hundreds of kilometers of length. Some have even 80 meters deep and a freed hostage described them as “a spider web”.
The group’s tunnels, located under the 360 km2 coastal strip and its borders, include “burrows Of attack; smuggling; storage and operations”, as stated western sources and of middle East familiar with the matter.
Israel said this week it had discovered a concrete and iron tunnel of unusual dimensions, designed to “transport vehicles loaded with fighters from Gaza to the border”.
Source: Ambito
