The military wing of the Hamas Resistance movement, al-Qassam Brigades, published Monday a video in response to a "discovery" made by the Israeli occupation forces, which comprised of the latter finding a tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip.

Hamas explained that the tunnel was dug up solely for the purpose of carrying out Operation al-Aqas Flood, telling the Israeli occupation forces that they were too little too late: "You arrive late... mission had already been completed," the video said in Arabic, Hebrew, and English.

The IOF had on Sunday published footage showing Israeli security minister Yoav Gallant touring the tunnel and taking pictures at its entry in an apparent bid to celebrate a "military accomplishment" made by the Israeli occupation forces more than 70 days into the aggression on Gaza and some 50 days of their invasion of the blockaded strip.

The Israeli occupation has set the discovery of the Resistance's tunnel network as one of the key objectives of the aggression on Gaza.

كتائب القسام تنشر مقطع فيديو عبر حسابها الرسمي بعنوان:

"وصلتم متأخرين.. المهمة أُنجزت.."#طوفان_الأقصى #غزة#فلسطين_المحتلة pic.twitter.com/Jj4UJGFsKB

— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) December 18, 2023

The details regarding the tunnel and its location show that the "military achievement" made by "Israel" is devoid of any real value. The Israeli occupation's own reports indicate that the entrance to the tunnel is less than 400 meters away from the separation wall on the northeastern borders of the Gaza Strip.

The tunnel is right off the "Erez" military site in an area that was cordoned off by the IOF in the early days of the aggression and even before it announced its ground invasion of Gaza.

The Israeli occupation needing 70 days of an all-out war to discover one massive tunnel in an open area that it has under its control reflects the hardship of locating and destroying the Resistance's tunnels in Gaza, especially in urban areas, wherein the Palestinian fighters are using the tunnel network to inflict major losses upon the occupation's armored vehicles amid the fierce confrontations that take place there.

Tunnel not for defensive purposes

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Looking at the size and structure of the tunnel, it appears to be a tunnel designed for offensive operations, as confirmed by the video released by Hamas' media, which underlined that it is linked to the transport of forces tasked with carrying out Operation al-Aqsa Flood and goes to show that the mission, as the al-Qassam Brigades said, was indeed accomplished.

These long tunnels, which stretch for kilometers, were used to transport forces from one area to another, along with their heavy and light equipment, secretly and covertly underground. This is aimed at countering the occupier's ability to remotely detect them, thus maintaining the forces' capability to surprise the enemy and catch its forces off-guard. This was successfully achieved on October 7th.

This type of tunnel is not designated for defensive purposes or infiltrations behind enemy lines. Its size and type make it unsuitable for defensive operations that require tunnels accommodating only a few resistance fighters, equipped for special combat operations (commandos), as demonstrated in the flashpoints of Resistance operations such as Juhr al-Dik and Beit Hanoun, among others.

Defensive tunnels are usually branched and separated, converging at specific points to prevent the collapse of all tunnels in case one is discovered. Additionally, these tunnels typically include openings close to the surface for reconnaissance and infiltration purposes.

In contrast, according to the occupier's admission, this tunnel extends to a depth of 50 meters underground and in length spans a distance of 4 kilometers, reaching what the occupation suspects to be an area within or near the city of Gaza.

Advanced tunnels

Gallant and his senior officers seemed stunned upon entering the tunnel, and this shock was evident, as the tunnel was armored with steel and reinforced with cement and steel columns, which highlights the al-Qassam's professional work and the extensive planning they did in preparation. Moreover, it opens the door for the Israeli occupation forces to anticipate the worst in terms of the Resistance's tunnels' capabilities to withstand its extensive bombing campaigns during the aggression. 

Inside the tunnel, drainage channels and sewage disposal facilities were visible, indicating the ability of these tunnels to withstand the threat of floods. This undermines the idea of "flooding them" with water, which is one idea propped up by the Israeli occupation to counter the threat of the tunnels, with Israeli media reporting on the IOF wanting to use this strategy more than once.

The depth of the tunnel also reveals the resistance's ability to fortify underground facilities and make it almost impossible for any bunker-buster-type weapons to have any effect. This makes for very bad news for the occupation forces, as their bunker-buster bombs, mostly of US origin, are capable of creating a maximum depth of some 20-30 meters, and thus they would be obsolete.

Additionally, this tunnel highlights the advanced security capabilities in the resistance's possession, all of which it has kept under the covers for years, away from the sights of the enemy and its security apparatus and intelligence agencies that have the Gaza Strip surrounded, all with dozens and maybe even hundreds of Resistance fighters participating in the building of the tunnels.

The revelation of this tunnel seems to unveil one of the secrets behind the resistance succeeding on October 7 in rapidly transporting hundreds of resistance fighters from inside Gaza to the settlements of the Gaza envelope, along with their vehicles equipped with machine guns and large quantities of weapons.

The enemy failed to act against them, which highlights the al-Qassam Brigades' superior preparations. It also refutes the narrative pushed by the Israeli occupation as it attempts to portray the Resistance's Operation al-Aqsa Flood as a simple one and attributing the infiltration solely to the lackluster capabilities and readiness of its forces.