They warn that 80% of the Hamas terror group’s tunnel network in Gaza remains intact.

Up to 80% of Hamas’ vast tunnel network under Gaza remains intact after weeks of efforts by Israel to destroy it.US and Israeli officials disclosed this This The Wall Street Journalwhich hindered Israel’s main war aims.

Despite intensive work, Israel has failed to destroy more than 20% of the extensive underground network in Gaza, North American media added. This network, which It extends over 450 km under the Gaza Stripis crucial to the functioning of HamasIt provides secure storage for weapons and ammunition, command and control centers, and allows the mobility of its fighters without exposure to Israeli fire.

The difficulty in eliminating these underground tunnels has been a significant obstacle to Israel’s war goals, including capturing top Hamas leaders and rescuing Israeli hostages. Israel has used various techniques in an attempt to disable the tunnels, viz Planting bombs, conducting airstrikes and using liquid explosives to flood them with Mediterranean sea water, as well as deploying search dogs and robots.

Complications in achieving these objectives are emphasized by the need to distinguish between combatants and civilians and the complexity of tunnel design.

Certain methods viz Operation “Sea of ​​Atlantis” These networks were launched in hopes of neutralizing areas, but faced challenges, including concerns about the potential impact on freshwater supplies and surface infrastructure. Seawater corrosion and inadequate defenses in some tunnels have reduced the effectiveness of these efforts.

Hamas’s entire strategy revolves around the tunnel: it is its center of gravity. They needed the tunnel to level the playing field with the IDF,” said Mick Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense and Marine Corps and Central Intelligence Agency official. “This is the tunnel where Hamas planned (before October 7) to wait for Israel’s political will when Israel faced pressure for a cease-fire.”

the army Israel They have units specializing in clearing tunnels, although their primary focus is on destruction rather than the precise pursuit of hostages or gang leaders. Hamas. This dilemma is compounded by the need for more targeted actions that avoid endangering hostages during raids.

Some of the hostages are being held in a command center in a tunnel under Khan YounisIsraeli officials said. The top Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, is holed up there, according to a senior Israeli military official. According to former Israeli officials and military analysts, an attack on that command center could endanger the hostages, a dilemma that translates into a choice between killing Sinver and negotiating the release of some or all of the remaining hostages.

Arrest or kill key leaders of Hamas and hostage rescue are objectives that sometimes seem to be in conflict, requiring difficult strategic decisions Israel. A command center has been identified in a particularly low tunnel Khan Younis As a critical point, where both the hostages and Yahya Sinwar, the main leader of Hamas in loop.

This multidimensional operation highlights the complexity of the conflict and the challenges Israel faces in achieving its objectives, revealing a critical dependence on it. Hamas with tunnel networks as a means of balancing the battlefield IDF (Israel Defense Forces).