It is a prize of war that once again demonstrates the underground life of Gaza. The Israeli military claimed on Sunday that it had discovered during its offensive "the largest tunnel" that Hamas has dug under the Gaza Strip and which comes out only a few hundred meters from its territory.
An AFP photographer who was allowed to go there found that it was large enough to drive small vehicles. "This massive network of tunnels, which splits into several branches, stretches for more than four kilometers and reaches only 400 meters from the Erez crossing" between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip, the Israeli Armed Forces said in a statement.
AFP/Jack Guez AFP or licensors
Israeli forces say it cost millions of euros and was dug up over years under the direction of Mohamed Sinwar, brother of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader considered the architect of the October 7 attack.
The tunnel is equipped with a piping system, electricity, ventilation, sewerage, communication networks and rails. Its floor is made of beaten earth and its walls are made of reinforced concrete, except at its opening, reinforced by a metal cylinder about one and a half centimetres in diameter. The Israeli army claims to have discovered a large number of weapons ready to be used in the event of an attack by Hamas.
A strategic location
"Hamas has consistently and deliberately invested huge amounts of money and resources in terror tunnels that have only one purpose: to attack the State of Israel and its residents," said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an IDF spokesman.
"This strategic network of attack tunnels (...) was intentionally dug near a crossing intended to allow Gazans to travel to Israel for work and medical care," he added.
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The Hamas attack on Israel launched on October 7 from the Gaza Strip killed about 1,140 people, according to Israel, which immediately vowed to "annihilate" the armed group and launched an offensive in the Palestinian territory that killed more than 18,800 people, according to the latest toll from the Hamas government.
Nicknamed "the Gaza Metro" by the Israeli military, the maze of tunnels was first used to circumvent the blockade imposed by Israel after Hamas seized power in the territory in 2007. Hundreds of tunnels have been dug under the border with Egypt's Sinai to move people, goods, weapons and ammunition between Gaza and the outside world.
In a study published on 17 October, the Institute of Modern Warfare at the US military academy West Point mentions 1,300 galleries over 500 km. The Israeli army said in early December that it had discovered more than 800 tunnel descents, 500 of which were destroyed.