(Times Of Israel) Senior Israeli defense officials now assess that Hamas’s Gaza tunnel network is between 350 and 450 miles long, far longer than previously believed, according to a Tuesday report.
The estimate reported by The New York Times is markedly higher than an Israel Defense Forces’ assessment last month that there are some 250 miles of Hamas tunnels under the Gaza Strip, and an astounding figure given the enclave is only some 140 square miles in total size.
The newspaper quoted Israeli intelligence officials estimating there are around 100 miles of tunnels under Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where IDF troops are engaged in intensive fighting as they search for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other terror commanders believed to be hiding underground.
Two Israeli defense officials who spoke anonymously said there were roughly 5,700 separate shafts leading down to the tunnels.
The report stressed that the estimates could not be independently confirmed and noted there are different assessments among Israeli officials on the extent of the subterranean passages.
Since launching a ground offensive following in the wake of the October 7 massacres, in which Hamas-led terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took around 240 hostages, Israeli forces have worked to destroy the tunnels, uncovering more and more of the Gaza-ruling terror organization’s underground network. A defense official told the Times that this task has grown easier as the ground offensive pushes deeper in the Strip.
The official said the IDF has also figured out about the “triangle” system, with troops likely to find tunnels below an area with a school, hospital or mosque.
