Newsweek: The Israeli army was surprised by the strength and development of Hamas tunnels in Gaza

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - International Service: The officer of the engineering department of the occupying Israeli army expressed his surprise at the extent of the tunnels used by Hamas in the Gaza Strip during the current war.

This Israeli officer stated in an interview with the American magazine Newsweek: "We knew that we would encounter these tunnels according to our expectations, but I did not expect that these tunnels would be so strong and that such a large amount of concrete, stairs and intersections would be used in these tunnels. has been."

He added: "Of course, we don't usually go inside (these tunnels), but we explored them and saw them. It looked really amazing and surprising. I thought these tunnels would be very primitive, but they were really advanced."

In a report by Homeland Security and Foreign Policy writer Tom O'Connor, Newsweek noted that the tunnels are a key element of Hamas' military strategy and a key target of the Israeli military during ongoing conflicts.

According to Shafqna, this Israeli officer, whose name was not mentioned by Newsweek, described these networks as a "lifeline" in Gaza and said: "When Israel controlled the Gaza Strip, we carried out operations against these smuggling tunnels, goods "It was not only military, but also civilian goods, but most of them were military. After Israel's withdrawal, these tunnels became more and more the lifeline for them."

According to this officer, these tunnels are Hamas' "essential assets" and continue to be a challenge to Israel's efforts to defeat the Palestinian resistance in the bloodiest war in the last 75 years.

The Israeli officer claimed: "These tunnels, of which Israeli forces have discovered hundreds of openings, often serve multiple purposes, as some serve as corridors for defensive and offensive equipment, others for weapons smuggling, and others." Goods and some of them are connected to civilian centers, hospitals, clinics and mosques.

In a conversation with Newsweek magazine, this engineer officer said, "The Israeli army prefers to destroy the entrance of these tunnels without entering them, rather than using airstrikes or explosives to destroy them."

"We know that if we see an enemy shooting at us from one of the tunnels and then running into the tunnel, their goal is to lure us into the tunnel and chase them, but we don't want to get into the game," he said. Let's become them, but we want to play our game."

He went on to say: "Therefore, we usually first try to destroy the enemy with explosives that do not destroy the tunnel, and then we resort to heavier explosives that destroy the tunnel itself."

The Israeli officer added: "We don't really know how many people we have killed, but we know that if we don't do it, they will attack us again the next day."

This American magazine reported: "Other Palestinian factions in Gaza - such as the Islamic Jihad movement and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine - use tunnel warfare in their operations against the Israeli occupying forces, and many of them are clearly coordinating with each other. are. Even regarding the issue of Israeli prisoners, some of the prisoners said they were inside the tunnels before being released."

The Israeli officer concluded: "After these battles, we will turn to the south of the Gaza Strip, an area where more than one million Palestinians live, which the army asked them to leave by the beginning of this month."