Hamas tunnels show future ture wars will be fought underground

Subterranean complexes have been used in combat for millenniums, but terrorist groups and rogue states are creating more sophisticated versions.

- James Stavridis

A year into Israel's fight against Hamas, it has become clear that the military "centre of gravity" the most important element of the conflict is not the missiles or manpower of the terrorist group. Rather, it is the 650-plus km of tunnels carved out under the Gaza Strip. From those tunnels, Hamas and its sponsor, Iran, were able to train, equip, organise and launch the horrific attacks of Oct 7.

The Israel Defence Forces have now publicly released a handbook taken from Hamas in 2019 that details how the group sought to maximise the lethality of capabilities it painstakingly built up underground and out of sight.

The group trained forces to fight in the subterranean environment using cover of darkness, night-vision goggles, split-second timing, Global Positioning System trackers, elaborate camouflage and protective blast doors. Hamas troops managed to create an entirely different battlefield from the traditional fight above ground.

It is easy to believe that Hamas did so in a burst of unique creativity, and that we are seeing the emergence of a new style of warfare. In fact, the use of tunnels in war has a long history.

The question today is how the advent of cutting-edge technologies can enhance this ancient style of combat, presenting military planners with new challenges around the globe.

Where are other deadly tunnel complexes? What should the US and its allies do to prepare? Sappers have constructed tunnel complexes over the centuries, going back to the ancient Greek and Roman armies.

Ironically, recent excavations found that the Jewish rebels of Judea used hundreds of kilometres of tunnels connecting villages in their revolt against the Romans two millenniums ago.

The ancient Chinese and Ottoman Turks both used tunnel complexes, notably in undermining cities under siege.