Gaza - Israel as the relentless pounding of Gaza. Since the Zionist State military attack, until now there were at least 1,674 people in Gaza have been dying. While the injured victims were approximately 7,500 people. From the Israeli side, carrying 56 people were killed, almost all of them are soldiers.
Most of the Israeli soldiers were killed during a culling operation that built an underground tunnel Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules the Gaza Strip. In recent days, Israeli forces face new tactics of Hamas, the tunnel strategy.
The entrance of the tunnel in the form of a vertical shaft, usually hidden in the house. "Down down about 12 feet or so before it reaches the horizontal section, lined with concrete and electrical wiring. Majority tunnel hole about 1 meter wide and 2.5 meters tall. Hardly enough to accommodate a man carrying a heavy load of weapons," according to The Guardian, Saturday (08/02/2014).
When traced back again, tunnel deeper decline, reaching up to 30 meters below the surface. "Most of the tunnel has a length of 1 to 3 kilometers and has many entrances and branches. Entire tunnel connected with other parts and the bunkers were used as a command center and store weapons and to maintain political and military leaders of Hamas radar safe from Israeli forces.
Secret tunnels and bunkers-shaped maze was constructed painstakingly by Hamas over the past few years. Construction of the tunnel even very large cost.
Israeli forces were racing to find and destroy the cross-border tunnels as much as possible. This is because Hamas and other militant groups use their strategic weapons underground to launch attacks on Israeli soldiers. Both in Gaza and across the border in Israel.
Israeli Army Targets
On Friday, August 1, 2014, several members of Hamas emerged from the tunnel near the town of Rafah, southern Gaza. They killed two soldiers and also allegedly abducting Israeli soldiers.
Hamas party also claimed they could not be destroyed in an Israeli air strike next. On Tuesday, five Israeli soldiers were killed in an Israeli military tower by the militants who had crossed the border underground and emerge through a hidden tunnel shaft.
Sophisticated labyrinth of tunnels Hamas is clearly surprising the Israeli military leadership. However, they remain determined to destroy the tunnels belonging to Hamas.
More than 2 weeks after launching a ground offensive in Gaza, Israel Defense Forces Chief Command (IDF) Southern part of Major General Sami Turgeman say they're getting closer to achieving the goal of military operations. "We just need a few more days to destroy all the tunnels offensive," said Major General Sami Turgeman, Thursday, July 31, 2014.
On the same day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a similar statement. "IDF Soldiers were completing the neutralization of terrorist tunnel. Tunnel will allow Hamas to kidnap and kill civilians and IDF soldiers through a simultaneous attack from many tunnels that penetrate our territory. We are now determined to destroy the ability of Hamas," Netanyahu said.
3 Type Tunnel
Eado Hecht, an Israeli defense analyst specializing in underground war, reveals there are 3 types of tunnels under Gaza:
First, smuggling tunnels on the border between Gaza and Egypt.
Second, defense tunnels in Gaza, which is used for the storage of weapons and command centers.
Third, offensive tunnels used for cross-border attacks on Israel.
So far the Israeli military said there were about 32-35 tunnels offensive, in which more than half have been destroyed.
To note, the tunnel construction began in Gaza more than a decade ago. Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was reportedly kidnapped by militia near the Israeli border and dragged back to the region in 2006.
But after Israel tightened its blockade of Gaza the following year, hundreds of tunnels to smuggle goods and people built under the Gaza-Egypt border. Hamas is also a separate tunnel to bring weapons into Gaza.
In recent years, Hamas has used expertise gained valuable smuggling routes in construction to build a network of tunnels defensive and offensive. Offensive tunnel has been excavated by hand, such as the use of the machine will be the risk of detection.
Military analysts estimate that each tunnel requires 2-3 years to complete at a cost of millions of dollars.
Destroying the tunnels is also a laborious operation. "This is a very dangerous job," said Hecht. "First, the location of tunnel entrance is very difficult, they are a needle in a haystack. Remote technology was not there to locate and map underground tunnels," he added.
Eado Hecht added anyway. "Once you find the entrance, you have to go up to the to know whether it is defensive or offensive tunnel. Then you have to map the tunnel. Where it occurs, whether it has a branch. Then you have to go to almost the entire tunnel with explosives. And during this time the Israeli army attacked risky, shot, trap. these are deadly game of hide and seek. "
Sniff Israel Since 2012
Meanwhile, Brigadier General Shimon Daniel said it was aware of the threat of Hamas tunnels strategy.
"We know there is a strategic threat, but we can not deal with it. We take risks and we waited. This is a big problem. Was not an easy thing to deal with," said Daniel, high-ranking Israeli reservists who had served the IDF Combat Engineering Corps Chief in 2003 to 2007.
When asked why the military does not address the threat of the tunnel in November 2012, when Israel launched Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza, when he admitted that a lot of consideration.
"There are many reasons that influence the way we act, for political reasons, international reasons.'s Very complicated ..."
Even when Israel said it had reached the current offensive strategic objectives and destroy tunnels Hamas offensive, there is no guarantee that everyone will have been found and 'neutralized'.
A senior IDF source said Israel's ground operations held for 3 days the goal is to destroy as much as possible tunnel like that.
"It's very difficult for me to say. Because there is always the possibility we do not know about all the tunnels. And what you do not know, you do not know," said Daniel.
As according to Hecht, the Israeli military operation at least make it more difficult for Hamas party rebuild the tunnel.
To that end, Israel said that 'demilitarization' of Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza is an essential element of any cease-fire to end the current conflict. Thus, Hamas will be difficult to expand the tunnels and rocket launching difficult.
However, Daniel said, Hamas will not be easily deterred. "Of course Hamas will try to re-establish the tunnel. When we came out [of Gaza] they will start digging."
