![](https://www.news360express.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/vdgd.jpg)
Last Sunday, the Israeli army announced that it has found the biggest tunnel dug by Hamas so far in Gaza. It is located less than a kilometer from an important border crossing. According to an AFP photographer who visited the tunnel, it is large enough for small vehicles.
According to the army’s statement, this underground passage is part of a network which winds its way over four kilometers (2.5 miles), and comes within 400 meters (1,300 feet) of the Erez border crossing.
The Israeli army said that the Burqan tunnel cost millions of dollars to construct and required several years. It was led by Mohamed Yahya, brother of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar. It is an intricate network including drainage systems, electricity, ventilation and sewers; a communications system; as well as rails.
The tunnel is constructed out of a compressed earth floor, reinforced concrete walls and a metal sheet cylinder entrance whose walls are one-and-a half centimeters in thickness. The footage above was supposed to be shot by Hamas and then leaked secretly online.
It showed how small construction vehicle could pass through the tunnel, a warehouse about as big as two tennis courts that stocked pre-cast concrete for wall lining, workers using only basic power tools in their excavation work The Israeli military reported that a large quantity of weapons was found within the tunnel, which suggests preparation for an imminent attack.
According to an army spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, Hamas invested in the tunnel project with all its strength. Its only objective was destroying and annihilating the State of Israel and her inhabitants.
![](https://www.news360express.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/strggh-1024x712.jpg)
He pointed out that the choice of a location near to the Erez crossing, which is used by Israel for controlled entry of Palestinian workers and medical travelers demonstrates clearly Hamas’s willingness to attack its enemies before acting in favor of Gaza people.
According to Israeli statistics, in the group’s October 7 surprise attack they suffered about 1,140 casualties with most of them being civilians and around 250 hostages. In response, Israel launched a special campaign to crack down on Hamas. According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, 18,800 have died during battle; most are women and children.
The widely coveted network of tunnels, which the Israeli military has dubbed “the Gaza Metro”, was first constructed to circumvent the blockade that Israel and Egypt imposed upon us in 2007. Constructed for different uses such as smuggling of goods or weapons, the tunnel system has now expanded since the 2014 war with Israel.
A report by the Modern War Institute at West Point estimated that there are more than one thousand tunnels covering five hundred kilometers or more. By early December, the Israeli army had discovered more than 800 tunnels and destroyed around half. There have been recent reports that Israel has carried out successful tests and is planning to flood the tunnels with seawater.
(“This story remains unedited by News360Express staff and is published from a syndicated feed.”)