What lies in wait for Israeli troops, sources say, is a network hundreds of kilometers long and up to 80 meters deep, described by a freed hostage as "a spider's web" and by an expert as the "Viet Cong times 10."

What lies in wait for Israeli ground troops in Gaza, security sources say, is a Hamas tunnel network hundreds of kilometres long and up to 80 metres deep, described by one freed hostage as “a spider’s web” and by one expert as the “Viet Cong times 10”.

The Palestinian Islamist group has different kinds of tunnels running beneath the sandy 360-sq-km coastal strip and its borders - including attack, smuggling, storage and operational burrows, Western and Middle East sources familiar with the matter said.

The United States believes Israel’s special forces will face an unprecedented challenge having to battle Hamas militants while trying to avoid killing hostages held below ground, a U.S. official said.

  • Aylex@lemmy.mlEnglish
    52·
    1 year ago

    It’s as deliberate as calling people who criticize the actions of the Israeli government anti-semites. It’s disingenuous and completely intentional. That way, you can erase Palestinian civilians from the conversation altogether.