Tension Tuesday; 12/05/23

The Israeli army announced that, since the beginning of the war on October 7, it has destroyed around 400 underground tunnels of the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Many tunnels were under hospitals, schools and homes, the Israeli armed forces announced today.

The Gaza Strip has a population of approximately 2.2 million people.

Some of the tunnels are reinforced with concrete and electrified. On average they are 2 meters high and 1 meter wide, but some are also large enough for vehicles.

To withstand Israeli airstrikes, some are tens of meters deep. According to Israel, many entrances to these tunnels are in residential buildings or mosques.

The Israeli military says it has discovered a Hamas tunnel on the site of Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest. The discovered well leads to a tunnel about 55 meters long and 10 meters deep, the military said at the weekend.