Since the Hamas attack on Israel last weekend, Israel has been bombing sites in Gaza used by the terrorists. Multiple building have been flattened and parts of the city are now just rubble.

New drone footage shows devastation in Gaza after a week of airstrikes. Israel has urged civilians to move south from Gaza City, and is preparing a potential ground assault as it looks to wipe out Hamas https://t.co/1nOnUGsMq9 pic.twitter.com/gYnUlAXCLV

— Bloomberg (@business) October 16, 2023

Given Israel’s ability to do all of this from the air, why would they order civilians to leave northern Gaza and then enter for a ground assault? The answer is tunnels. Hamas has constructed miles of reinforced tunnels beneath Gaza where its soldiers can hide and where it can hide weapons. The extent of this tunnel network, known as the Gaza subway, may add up to hundreds of miles.

…there exists a second underground network that the Israel Defense Forces colloquially refer to as the “Gaza metro.” It’s a vast labyrinth of tunnels, by some accounts several kilometers underground, used to transport people and goods; to store rockets and ammunition caches; and house Hamas command and control centers, all away from the prying eyes of the IDF’s aircraft and surveillance drones.

Hamas in 2021 claimed to have built 500 kilometers (311 miles) worth of tunnels under Gaza, though it is unclear if that figure was accurate or posturing. If true, Hamas’ underground tunnels would be a little less than half the length of the New York City subway system.

Airstrikes may have taken out Hamas’ above-ground offices but the bulk of their infrastructure is deep underground, beneath the civilian population of Gaza city. In order to put an end to Hamas, which Israel says is the goal of its response this time, it is going to have to send people in to identify and destroy these tunnels.

In previous rounds of fighting, ceasefires were reached after days or weeks of air strikes and limited ground incursions, on terms generally accepted as Israeli victories and Hamas defeats. In each case, Israel inflicted significant blows, but Hamas retained most of its military underground apparatus, where its leaders and fighters have sheltered.

This time — having suffered a surprise attack more destructive than that of the 1973 Yom Kippur war — Israel is seeking total victory. The IDF will not be content to see Hamas merely surrender or cede to a ceasefire; the goal is the destruction of the organisation as a military threat…

Collapsing, flooding, exploding and sealing the tunnels, bunkers and bases that pocket Gaza’s 365 square kilometres would take many months, requiring huge resources and sustained operational supremacy. And all of this while under fire from Hamas operatives exploiting their strategic advantage below the surface. Even in such a scenario — which would come at an unthinkable human cost — it is unlikely that the entirety of Gaza’s tunnel network would be destroyed.

Needless to say, the construction of hundreds of miles of reinforced tunnels would have been extremely expensive and time consuming.

It’s unclear how much the tunnel network would have cost Hamas, which governs the impoverished coastal strip. The figure is likely significant, both in terms of manpower and capital…

Experts say that diggers using basic tools likely burrowed deep underground to dig the network, which is wired with electricity and reinforced by concrete. Israel has long accused Hamas of diverting concrete meant for civilian and humanitarian purposes toward the construction of tunnels.

And yet, civilians in Gaza have no bomb shelters at all.

This is the reality for Palestinians living in Gaza without the protection of a robust civil defense infrastructure. With no air raid sirens or bomb shelters, the more than 2 million Palestinians living in the besieged territory – half of whom are children – rely on rare phone calls or text messages from the Israeli military to alert them of imminent strikes.

“In Gaza, we don’t have anything…you have nowhere to go, no bomb shelters, no refuge, you are in the street,” Baroud said. “If you’re lucky enough to even get an alert to tell you to get out of the house, you leave saying, ‘Thank God.’”

So there is shelter for Hamas fighters but nothing for civilians who are used as human shields to protect the underground tunnels. Two years ago a reporter with Vice visited Hamas in one of their underground tunnels. She asked them if they weren’t using civilians as human shields. Of course they denied it. (Is it just me or does the Hamas guy in the red headband have an Irish accent?)