It is estimated that Hamas has between 400 and 500 kilometers of underground passages, both in urban and rural areas. The destruction of these infrastructures is a priority objective for Israel if it wants to put an end to the terrorist militiamen. But there is a maxim within the Hebrew army: do not enter the tunnels except in very extreme cases such as the release of one of the hostages taken by Palestinian extremists on October 7. Fighting inside a tunnel is extremely complex, especially if its width allows only one person to pass through and those who follow have to do so in single file.
The most widespread procedure so far by Israel to neutralize their use (sometimes it is not necessary to completely blow them up but simply render them useless) or their total destruction is the launching of anti-bunker bombs. These are weapons known in English slang as bunker busters. “The Israelis already started using them a few days after the Hamas attack. It was easy to distinguish them because, after an initial explosion, another secondary explosion occurred a little later that came out from under the ground,” says José Canedo, a retired Army officer with extensive combat experience.
These bunker busters have different powers and weights, but their operating mechanism is the same. The most powerful can penetrate about 30 meters into earthen soil before bursting or piercing up to six meters of concrete before detonating. Some anti-bunker bombs penetrate by the force of their own weight and others use a smaller detonation to pierce the surface on which they impact - as if they were opening a path - and then explode at a certain depth.
Almost certainly, the Jewish artillery attacks on the Jabaliya refugee camp, under whose surface Hamas military facilities are believed to have been, were carried out with high-powered bunker busters.
Although this type of bombing to destroy terrorist infrastructure is usually quite effective in terms of reaching military objectives, it has a high cost in civilian lives, as seen in Jabaliya. Israel seems determined to resist the wear and tear of these innocent deaths among the international community if this means that the number of casualties of its fighters is minimized.
“They are going to avoid going into the tunnels. There must also be a large number of traps. They are going to continue blowing them up from the air,” explains Javier Jordán to La Vanguardia, professor of Political Science at the University of Granada and director of the digital publication Global Strategy. “In any case, there will be tunnels that are below the reach of the bunker busters and that until you enter you will not be able to say that it is yours,” warns officer José Canedo.
According to Israeli military information, Hebrew combat engineers are beginning systematic blasting of the tunnel entrances. In such notes it is assumed that many Hamas militiamen will end up dying inside, despite having sought refuge inside. They will be trapped. In addition to explosives, it appears that the Hebrew forces are using robots to detonate booby traps in some passageways.
“Combat inside the tunnels has many complications. The radios do not work and to communicate you have to deploy reel cables as if it were a conventional telephone and that must then reach a command post that acts as a switchboard. These signal losses are also suffered by drones, for example,” explains Canedo.
A key circumstance occurs in those referring to underground operations: “The Hamas hostages are inside the tunnels and are currency,” explains Professor Jordán.
That is why, as Canedo believes due to his technical knowledge and combat experience, the Israelis should go, as they have been doing until now, very little by little. “If they do it like this they won't have to enter. Those who are going to get impatient are those below when they see that they cannot communicate, that they are without light and without ventilation,” comments this retired officer.
The lack of fuel, which is what powers the generating equipment that provides electricity in the tunnels, is one of the great dangers for the Hamas militiamen, so making it difficult for them to resupply is one of Israel's priorities, although it is suspected that Important ammunition stores and fuel reserves are still underground.
