The Short Answer

What Are the Hamas Tunnels in Gaza?

  • Destroying an elaborate network of tunnels that lie below the Gaza Strip and burrow under Israel’s borders is a main aim of the ongoing Israeli military campaign against Hamas in the Palestinian territory. Since ground operations began about two weeks ago, Israel’s army says it has found 32 tunnels and more than 60 entrances to them. Dozens of Hamas militants have tried to infiltrate into Israel through the tunnels during the conflict. Five Israeli soldiers died on Monday trying to thwart a tunnel attack inside Israel.

    • Why is the tunnel network a big deal for Israel?

      Tunnels are important military assets for Hamas, Israel’s rival and the governing faction in the Gaza Strip. Hamas militants use them to transport weapons and people without being detected by Israeli air surveillance. Tunnels also give militants places to hide and move between houses undetected. But what scares Israelis most are the tunnels that cross the Gaza border, ending in the rolling farmland of southern Israel. Militants have used these tunnels – the Israeli government calls them “terror tunnels” – to infiltrate across the border and attempt killings and kidnappings.

    • Are the tunnels a recent phenomenon?

      No. Gazans have been building tunnels for well over a decade. An infrastructure of tunnels crisscrossing the border with Egypt was built to smuggle over goods as big as cars, although Egypt destroyed more than 1,600 of those this year alone. Infiltration tunnels into Israel have also existed for some time. Hamas used tunnels in the 2006 abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was released five years later in exchange for the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian and Arab prisoners.

    • How many tunnels are there?

      That’s not entirely clear, but Israeli military figures suggest they are aware of about 50 of them. There are dozens more entrances and smaller side tunnels, the military says.

    • Are they big?

      Tunnel construction varies, but the more sophisticated ones are reinforced with concrete and are high enough for a man of average height to stand up in. They often include power and communication lines.

    • How is Israel destroying them?

      With explosives and armored bulldozers.