Inside Hamas’s underground city: Footage shows how the terrorists excavate tunnels, use them to move weapons, carry out attacks on Israel and smuggle prisoners back to Gaza

Footage shows the elaborate tunnels Palestinian Islamist fighters are using
Heavily armed militants can be seen navigating the tunnels
Missiles, machine guns, ammunition and rocket propelled weapons are visible

Chilling footage has emerged showing the elaborate tunnel systems that Hamas terrorists have been using to move weapons, hostages and stage attacks on Israel.

The footage gives insight into the claustrophobic conditions the Palestinian Islamist fighters have been operating in.

It shows militants using metal rods and shovels to dig the tunnels. Many of them appear to be quite cramped and dark with footage showing the fighters slightly slouching as they move through the tunnels guided by headtorches.

Despite the confined conditions, most of the tunnels have concrete reinforcing.

The militants can be seen dressed in full military fatigues with some obscuring their faces with headscarves, balaclavas or wearing camouflage paint. They were heavily armed, carrying large machine guns, ammunition and rocket propelled weapons.

Hamas terrorists have been using to move weapons, hostages and stage attacks on Israel

Chilling footage has emerged showing the elaborate tunnel systems that Hamas terrorists have been using to move weapons, hostages and stage attacks on Israel

The armed terrorists can be seen emerging from trapdoors concealed by sand, shrubs or improvised barriers

The armed terrorists can be seen emerging from trapdoors concealed by sand, shrubs or improvised barriers. Others carrying missiles can be seen setting up in cinderblock laden defensive positions.

Other shots of the tunnels show more expansive and well-lit areas with what appears to be wiring for electricity and communications and Hamas flags and insignia decorating the walls.

They also show off an array of munitions with grenades, landmines and large rockets visible.

Their complex network of reinforced tunnels, some of which are buried up to 40ft underground and all of which could conceal an ambush, be booby-trapped or filled with explosives and primed to cave in.

This means Israel can bomb Gaza all it likes and launch bunker-busting munitions to clear out some tunnels – but the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) would still need to deploy hundreds of thousands of troops to neutralise every last Hamas fighter if it is to wipe the organisation out completely.

Other shots of the tunnels show more expansive and well-lit areas with what appears to be wiring for electricity and communications and Hamas flags and insignia decorating the walls

The terrorist’s can be seen with an array of munitions with grenades, landmines and large rockets visible

The footage gives insight into the claustrophobic conditions the Palestinian Islamist fighters have been operating in

The Hamas militants have a complex network of reinforced tunnels, some of which are buried up to 40ft underground and all of which could conceal an ambush, be booby-trapped or filled with explosives and primed to cave in

Hamas in 2011 said they had constructed more than 300 miles of tunnel systems and although analysts suspected that figure was inflated, the group is sure to have dramatically expanded the network since then.

The IDF has long been trying – and failing – to destroy the huge network of tunnels which were established after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

Not only do they run underground throughout Gaza, but several reach into Israeli territory and have long served as a launch point for many of the Hamas’ attacks.

Tunnels were among Hamas’ most effective tools during the 2014 war with Israel, with militants using them to move weapons, enter the Jewish state, ambush IDF soldiers, and at times even return to Gaza through the underground passages.

The first Hamas tunnels were built in 2007 between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and were designed for smuggling consumer goods to bypass the Israeli blockade.

However, some rudimentary networks existed in Gaza as early as 2002. One was used to bomb an Israeli outpost within the Strip in 2004. A second tunnel bomb attack on an Israeli outpost took place in December 2004, killing five IDF soldiers.

Israel has long struggled to wipe the system out, despite top of the range military and intelligence equipment.

This is primarily because the tunnels, which are believed to have cost between $30 million (£21.3 million) and $90 million (£63.9 million) to build, are extremely difficult to detect from the air.

Some of the three dozen tunnels built since the end of the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict are estimated to have cost $3 million (£2.13 million).

By 2013, the network had definitively pivoted away from the Egyptian border and towards Israel and there were at least three tunnels under the Israel-Gaza border, two of which were packed with explosives.

The underground network now branches hundreds of miles through the Gaza Strip reaching the towns of Khan Younis, Jabalia, and the Shati refugee camp. They also stretch into Israel.

The tunnels are used by Hamas and other Islamist groups in Gaza, including the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine, all of whom say tunnels are needed for defence, and to get around the difficulties imposed by Israel’s strict border controls.

Reportedly more than 7000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war.

So far, the total of 7028 deaths includes 2913 children, the Hamas-run health ministry said.

Yesterday the ministry reported 6546 deaths, including 2704 children.

Joe Biden said he had ‘no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using’, though he did not explain why.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said it was ‘deeply disturbed’ by his comments and called on the President to apologise.

‘Journalists have confirmed the high number of casualties and countless videos coming out of Gaza every day show mangled bodies of Palestinian women and children,’ executive director Nihad Awad said.

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