Inside the chilling network of Hamas tunnels

A chilling look at the system, which is a key part of the militant group’s war strategy, shows just how challenging the conflict is set to become as Israeli troops descend on the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, a German-Israeli woman, who it was thought had been taken hostage by Hamas militants following a massacre at a music festival, is now confirmed to have died.

The devastating news comes as Israeli soldiers have managed to rescue the first hostage – a fellow soldier who they found in northern Gaza.

And Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected ceasefire calls, declaring: “This is a time for war.”

Follow along for the latest updates.

Chilling look inside the ‘Hamas Metro’

If Israel is to succeed in ridding Gaza of the Hamas terrorist network, it faces a significant challenging in finding and destroying a vast tunnel system that runs beneath the disputed territory.

Known as the ‘Hamas Metro’, the tunnels are believed to have played a central role in moving militants into surprise attack positions to carry out horrifying massacres on Israeli citizens on 7 October.

Intelligence service Mossad now believes many of the 230 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas are captive deep underground.

In public statements made in 2021, Hamas political leader Yehia Sinwar said the group had 500km of tunnels. To put that into perspective, the Gaza Strip itself is about 360 square kilometres.

If true, the size of that tunnel system is vaster than London’s Underground train network.

Yocheved Lifshitz, an 85-year-old Israeli hostage who was freed by Hamas after a fortnight of captivity, said she was held within the tunnels.

“Eventually we went underground and walked for kilometres in wet tunnels, for two or three hours, in a spider‘s web of tunnels,” Ms Lifshitz told reporters.

“We went through the tunnels until we reached a large hall.”

Construction of the tunnel system began 20 years ago and was initially designed to connect Gaza with Egypt in order to smuggle banned goods and weapons.

At some point in recent years, Hamas pivoted and ramped up the spread of tunnels for the specific use of waging war.

They are concrete-reinforced and connected to electricity and telecommunications.

Some sections are metres high, allowing militants to comfortable walk upright, while parts are wide enough to drive missile-loaded trucks through, according to reports.

In 2004, Israeli Defence Forces formed the Samur unit, colloquially known as the ‘Weasals’, to infiltrate and destroy tunnels beneath Gaza.

Troops enter wearing oxygen masks and plant C4 explosives. Remote-controlled robots are also dispatched.

Ben Milch was part of the squad in 2014 and tole the Mail Online that he uncovered tunnels leading directly into Israel from Gaza.

“One telltale sign was sometimes a pulley system fixed to the side of a house for moving the excavated earth, and when we dug below, we‘d find the tunnel usually about 15-foot deep,” Mr Milch told the outlet.

“In other places, there would be a steel trapdoor inside a room in a house or mosque. Our job wasn‘t to enter the tunnels, just to destroy them.”

Last week, the IDF said a Hamas underground command centre next to the Al-Shifa Hospital – Gaza’s largest health facility – was discovered and bombed.

Multiple air strikes throughout the region over the past week have specifically targeted tunnels.

In an interview on Russian state television last week, senior Hamas figure Mousa Abu Marzouk said the tunnels were built to protect terrorists – not Palestinian civilians.

Israel is reported to have developed a weapon called a “sponge bomb” as part of its operations targeting the Hamas tunnels.

The IDF has not commented on the existence of the devices, but UK newspaper The Telegraph reported they are chemical weapons that explode and spray out foam that hardens.

German tattoo artist confirmed dead

German tattoo artist Shani Louk, whose plight inspired attention around the world after she was thought to have been abducted from a music festival by Hamas, has been found dead.

Ms Louk, 22, was paraded semi-naked through Gaza on the back of a truck in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ 7 October attacks.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of my sister, Shani Nicole Z.L., who was on October 7, 2023, at the party massacre in Re’im,” her sister Adi wrote on Instagram.

While Ms Louk’s full remains have yet to be found, her mother Ricarda said she was told by the Israeli military that a DNA sample, taken from a skull bone, proved to be hers.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Ms Louk had been beheaded.

“These barbaric, sadistic animals simply chopped off her head as they attacked, tortured and killed Israelis,” Mr Herzog said.

“It is a great tragedy and I extend my deepest condolences to her family.”

Ms Louk’s father told Israeli news site N12 that authorities believe she was shot and killed 10 minutes after fleeing the music festival.

It suggests she was dead in the Hamas footage showing her lying motionless in the back of a truck.

“Until about 6.45am [on 7 October], Shani was still dancing, cheering and going wild at the party and was surrounded by all her best friends,” Mr Louk told N12.

“She was killed on the spot, and not only did she not suffer, but 10 minutes earlier she was still enjoying herself.”

Eerie installation honours hostages

Israelis have gathered to honour the more than 200 hostages who remain captives of Hamas in Gaza, at a moving public art installation in Jerusalem.

The Installation of Empty Beds in Safra Square was organised by survivors of the 7 October massacre and loved ones of those kidnapped by militants.

It features 239 beds, mattresses, cots and bassinets arranged outside the Jerusalem Municipality building, symbolising the missing men, women and children.

Ground operations in Gaza expand

Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza continues to advance, with troops pushing further into the northern part of the Gaza Strip overnight.

The Israeli Defence Forces said troops engaged in a number of battles with Hamas terrorists, killing dozens, with the support of the Air Force.

“Overnight, troops eliminated dozens of terrorists who barricaded themselves in the buildings and tried to attack the forces that were moving in their direction,” IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.

“We are carrying out an expanded ground operation into the Strip [and] forces are moving towards the terrorists, the terrorists are barricading themselves in staging grounds, and we are attacking them from the air.”

Tanks on the outskirts of Gaza City have blocked off a key road linking the north with the south.

Horrors in Gaza hospitals revealed

International charity Save The Children says one child is being killed every 10 minutes during the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

And of the 20,000 Palestinian civilians who have been injured so far, the group’s director of operations in Palestine Jason Lee said one-in-three are kids.

In an interview with the BBC, he also spoke of the horrific conditions doctors in Gaza hospitals are working under.

“Surgeons are doing surgeries without anaesthetic, people are using mobile phones as flashlights to have lights in health facilities,” Mr Lee told the British broadcaster.

Substandard hygiene practices and overcrowding have also seen a surge in communicable diseases among patients, he said.

Turkish Palestinian Hospital in Gaza was reportedly damaged by an Israeli air strike overnight, with the oxygen system and water supply affected.

Meanwhile, Catherine Russell, head of the United Nations’ agency UNICEF estimated some 420 children are being killed each day.

The death toll “quickly adding up” with “rampant grave violations” being committed, Ms Russell told a sitting of the UN Security Council overnight.

UNICEF believes more than 3400 children have died in Gaza since 7 October. Some 6300 have been injured, it estimates.

Israel rescues first hostage

The Israel Defence Forces has rescued the first hostage from within Gaza.

Private Ori Megidish was taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October. The IDF rescued her during its incursion into Gaza overnight on Monday.

“The soldier was medically checked, is doing well, and has met with her family. The IDF and Israel Security Agency will continue to do everything it takes in order to release the hostages,” a statement read.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “welcome home” to Private Megidish in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

About 230 people were taken hostage by Hamas during co-ordinated attacks on Israel earlier this month. Only four hostages have been released, and now one rescued.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the successful operation overnight “is proof” that troops can rescue those held hostage in Gaza.

“This is further proof of our ability to reach the hostages, the importance of the ground operation, and above all our commitment to each and every one of the hostages,” Mr Gallant said.

But he conceded the ongoing ground offensive is “not easy”.

Air strikes near hospitals

Palestinian health officials say a series of Israeli air strikes overnight hit sits very close to multiple hospitals, including the large health centre Al-Shifa.

The United Nations said some 117,000 civilians are sheltering alongside thousands of patients and doctors in health facilities in the region’s north.

Israel yesterday ordered the evacuation of major hospitals, including Gaza’s largest Al-Quds.

UN humanitarian office OCHA said 117,000 civilians were sheltering alongside thousands of patients and doctors in hospitals in the north.

Chilling hostage video emerges

While one hostage was freed, another trio of Israelis has been seen on video – the first such clip to emerge from Gaza.

Benjamin Netanyahu named the hostages as Elena Trupanov, Daniel Aloni and Rimon Kirsht. He described the video as “cruel psychological propaganda”.

“Our hearts go out to you and the other hostages. We are doing everything to bring all the hostages and missing people home,” Mr Netanyahu said.

In the clip, the three can be seen sitting on chairs against a wall. They looked uninjured and generally healthy.

One of the women appears to reference hostage negotiations that had taken place.

“You promised to release us all,” she said. She finishes with a cry to “free us all, now”.

Netanyahu: ‘A time for war’

Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected fresh calls for a humanitarian ceasefire and that now is a “time for war”.

“The Bible says: ‘There is a time for peace, and a time for war’. This is a time for a war,” he said at a press conference on Monday, local time.

“A war for our common future. Today, we draw a line between the forces of civilisation and the forces of barbarism.”

Mr Netanyahu said to have a ceasefire would be “to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism”.

“Just as the US would not agree to a ceasefire after the bombing of Pearl Harbour or after the terrorist attack of 9/11, Israel will not agree to a cessation of hostilities with Hamas after the horrific attacks of 7 October”.

He was asked whether the ground operation in Gaza was conducive to releasing hostages. He said he was “committed” to getting the hostages home, but it was not certain that would happen.

“Our common assessment … is that the ground action actually creates the possibility – not the certainty – of getting our hostages out, because Hamas will not do it unless they’re under pressure.”

He also accused Hamas of bearing responsibility for civilian deaths in Gaza.

“Hamas is preventing them from leaving, keeping them in areas of conflict. So, I think you should direct your questions to Hamas,” he told reporters.

US rejects calls for ceasefire

The United States has rejected calls for a ceasefire but supports “pauses” in the conflict to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the White House doesn’t “believe a ceasefire is the right answer right now.

“We do not support a ceasefire at this time,” Mr Kirby told reporters.

“We believe that a ceasefire right now benefits Hamas and Hamas is the only one that would gain … What we have said is temporary localised humanitarian pauses.”

Mr Kirby said the US is “confident” the number of aid trucks crossing the Rafah border crossing from Egypt will grow to about 100 per day.

“This first phase that we talked to the Israelis about is trying to get it up to about 100 a day,” he said, although just 45 managed to get through yesterday.

“We’re confident that we can get there in coming days.”

Four killed in West Bank clash

Four Palestinians were killed on Monday during an early-morning Israeli raid in the northern West Bank city of Jenin.

According to the official Palestinian agency Wafa, “more than 100 military vehicles and two bulldozers” took part in the raid in the city and its refugee camp, which is a stronghold of Hamas armed groups.

Wafa reported military drones hovered over the area during the raid, while snipers were positioned on buildings around the city’s main hospital.

Part of the hospital’s perimeter wall was also demolished by military bulldozers.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.

The deaths come a day after five Palestinians were killed by army fire during several military incursions into the West Bank.

Hospital evacuation impossible: UN agency

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said there are hundreds of injured people in Gaza hospitals who are incapable of evacuating to the south, following Israel’s latest warning to civilians on Monday.

Several people in Gaza’s north are left stranded because they “physically don’t have the transportation”, according to the agency’s head, Tom White.

“Many people in the north are seeking shelter in [UN] schools, they‘re seeking shelter in hospitals,” Mr White said.

“I was up and one of the hospitals this week and there are hundreds and hundreds of patients that can’t be moved.”

The agency says clean water is scarce in parts of Gaza and said they are working on delivering food to civilians as the bombs continue to drop.

US sending weapons to Israel ‘daily’

America continues to provide shipments of weapons to Israel on a near daily basis, the Pentagon has confirmed.

Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters the United State sis not “putting any limits on how Israel uses weapons”.

“That is really up to the Israeli Defence Force to use and how they are going to conduct their operations.”

Ms Singh declined to respond to speculation that some figures within the Pentagon are concerned about how the weapons are being utilised.

However, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has previously repeated the need for Israel to follow the laws of war and avoid civilian casualties.

Meanwhile, the Biden Administration has sent a senior Treasury official to Saudi Arabia and Qatar to co-ordinate regional efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Fury at Netanyahu’s accusation

Benjamin Netanyahu has been forced to delete a tweet where he accused security chiefs of failing to warn him about the devastating Hamas attack before 7 October.

In the now-deleted post on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Netanyahu said: “At no point was a warning given to Prime Minister Netanyahu on Hamas’s intention to start a war.

“On the contrary, all the defence officials, including the heads of the Intelligence Directorate and the Shin Bet, assessed that Hamas was deterred.”

Opposition Leader and former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid accused Mr Netanyahu of “crossing a red line” by attributing blame to the security services.

Following the backlash, Mr Netanyahu deleted the post, insisting Israel’s security heads had his “full backing”.

“I was wrong. Things I said following the press conference should not have been said and I apologise for that,” he wrote on X.

Originally published as Israel-Hamas conflict: Chilling look inside vast 500km network of Hamas tunnels beneath Gaza