Several kilometers long and 30 meters deep, how do the Hamas tunnels in Gaza work?

The tunnels in Gaza were designed to survive the blockade and since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, have become a weapon for the militias.

The Palestinian armed faction has turned them into an instrument of defense, attack and refuge, while Israel has designated the tunnels as the main target of any ground operation.

Thus they assumed the role of a "secret" front, always dangerous. On Saturday, the death of four paratroopers was announced due to the explosion of a bomb at the "mouth" of a tunnel, which was probably blocked by militias.

No one except a few Palestinian leaders knows exactly how extensive the underground network is. In interviews, resistance leaders confirm the enemy's assessments, speaking of an elaborate system extending over tens of kilometers. They then specify that the tunnels are designed for combatants and not civilians.

Intelligence reports depict them as a spider's web protected by concrete walls, with landline telephone communications networks, electricity, air filtration systems powered by car batteries and generators.

Each tunnel can have multiple branches, with multiple entrances and exits, useful for launching surprise operations and then disappearing.

Propaganda videos show the many "rooms". Bunker where groups of attackers await the order to attack, "corridors" to accommodate missiles and facilities used as hostage prisons. There are also emergency rooms for the command centers as well as "stores" for food and ammunition.

The average depth of these tunnels is estimated to be around 20-30 meters, a figure which does not exclude the works carried out at lower levels to make them more resistant to possible bombings or to overcome underground obstacles. The soil of the Belt - geologists assure - has helped the "miners", even if there have been collapses and accidents.

Entry and exit points are everywhere. In the open countryside, under a large building, inside a room of each house. Camouflaged behind a wardrobe, inside a greenhouse, or under a mosque, they exist as long as there is enough of a gap for a militia armed with grenade launchers and Kalashnikovs to pass through. (A2 Televizion)