True scale of deadly challenge facing Israeli troops as they take on Hamas’ terrorists embedded in tunnels
ISRAEL faces a daunting task to wipe out Hamas — owing to the terror group’s underground tunnel network.
The 311-mile-long subterranean web — dubbed the Gaza Metro — extends across the Strip.
Child soldiers helped to dig the tunnels, which have electricity.
But the Israel Defence Forces are confident they will be victorious despite the difficulty of fighting underground.
And in a rousing Churchillian speech to troops this week, Major General Yaron Finkelman, IDF’s Southern Commander, said: “We will fight professionally and powerfully for the mission, striving for victory.
“We will fight in the alleys, we will fight in the tunnels, we will fight wherever is necessary.”
The IDF has already attacked Hamas’s underground defences with a week of intense bombing.
They have used 5,000lb bombs which penetrated the surface and then exploded underground.
Armoured bulldozers and tanks then rolled into the Strip to take out more Hamas fighters before infantry units followed behind.
The Caterpillar D9 bulldozers — nicknamed “Doobi” which is Hebrew for teddy bear — cleared the way for Merkava tanks to travel through.
The spider’s web under Gaza is made up of 1,300 tunnels which Hamas began digging in 2007.
One of the new weapons in Israel’s armoury is so-called sponge bombs which produce foam that expands inside the tunnel to seal gaps where fighters could emerge.
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This week, an Israeli intelligence expert tells us why Hamas’ tactic of taking hostages could turn out to be its undoing.