Gaza City – Reuters Exclusive: Hamas Fighters Show Defiance In Gaza Tunnel Tour (Video)

14

A Palestinian fighter from the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, gestures inside an underground tunnel in Gaza August 18, 2014. A rare tour that Hamas granted to a Reuters reporter, photographer and cameraman appeared to be an attempt to dispute Israel's claim that it had demolished all of the Islamist group's border infiltration tunnels in the Gaza war. Picture taken August 18, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammed SalemGaza City – Hamas fighters, clad in black and armed with assault rifles, navigated the dimly lit tunnel with ease, saying they felt at home in their network of underground passages in the Gaza Strip.

Join our WhatsApp group

Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


A rare tour that Hamas granted to a Reuters reporter, photographer and cameraman appeared to be an attempt to dispute Israel’s claim that it had demolished all of the Islamist group’s border infiltration tunnels in the Gaza war.

“We are speaking to you today from inside one of those tunnels, which Israel said it had destroyed. Our men are still operating in those tunnels prepared for all options,” said a masked fighter from Hamas’s Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades.

But driven, blindfolded, to the secret location in a Hamas vehicle that made a series of turns, it was impossible for the Reuters crew to tell whether it was close to the frontier or further inside the Gaza Strip in tunnels untouched by Israeli bombing. It was not clear where the tunnel led.

By Israel’s own account, its ground forces focussed only on destroying tunnels within 2 to 4.5 km of the border, while ignoring more distant connecting passages. During the Gaza offensive, Israel’s military took reporters through tunnels it discovered at the frontier.

Chatting in soft voices and laughing at times, Hamas men guided the Reuters crew through corridors less than a metre (3.3 feet) wide that are reached by descending a thin metal ladder through a tiny shaft.
A Palestinian fighter from the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, stands inside an underground tunnel in Gaza August 18, 2014. A rare tour that Hamas granted to a Reuters reporter, photographer and cameraman appeared to be an attempt to dispute Israel's claim that it had demolished all of the Islamist group's border infiltration tunnels in the Gaza war. Picture taken August 18, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
“It feels just like home,” their commander said. “Fighters dug these tunnels with their own hands just like they built their houses, so they live here at comfort and assurance like they do at home.”

SOUND OF SILENCE

The ceiling in parts of the tunnel was high enough so we could walk through – alternately on dry, concrete floors and muddy ground – without having to bend our heads.

It was impossible to gauge the tunnel’s length, but it had offshoots leading in different directions. Once inside, the sounds of traffic and Israeli drones that routinely fly over the territory of 1.8 million people could not be heard.

Israel said the tunnel network is used by Hamas to move and store weapons and keep fighters out of sight of Israeli aircraft.

It is separate from smuggling conduits that ran under the Egypt-Gaza border. Egypt, which regards Hamas as a security threat, destroyed those tunnels before the current war.
Palestinian fighters from the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, are seen inside an underground tunnel in Gaza August 18, 2014. A rare tour that Hamas granted to a Reuters reporter, photographer and cameraman appeared to be an attempt to dispute Israel's claim that it had demolished all of the Islamist group's border infiltration tunnels in the Gaza war. Picture taken August 18, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Israel launched its Gaza offensive on July 8 after a surge in Hamas rocket fire across the border. Israeli ground forces invaded on July 17 with the declared aim of destroying infiltration tunnels and left on Aug. 5 after saying that mission had been accomplished.

Egypt is trying to finalise a long-term ceasefire after a five-day truce was extended by 24 hours into Tuesday.

On the battlefield, Hamas met Israeli forces with an array of tactics, including the use of tunnels to launch surprise attacks. Israel’s military lost 64 soldiers, more than six times the number of troops killed in its previous invasion of Gaza in early 2009. Three civilians in Israel were also killed.

Israel says it has killed hundreds of Hamas fighters and destroyed more than 30 tunnels. Funeral marches were held for several members of the Qassam Brigades but there has been no official word from the group on its losses.

The Palestinian Health Ministry puts the Gaza death toll at 2,016 and says most were civilians in the small, densely populated coastal territory.

In the tunnel, a Hamas fighter said the group would press on with restocking its arsenal or rockets and other weaponry and shoring up its underground network.

“In peace we make preparations, and in war we use what we have readied,” he said.

Palestinian fighters from the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, are seen inside an underground tunnel in Gaza August 18, 2014. A rare tour that Hamas granted to a Reuters reporter, photographer and cameraman appeared to be an attempt to dispute Israel's claim that it had demolished all of the Islamist group's border infiltration tunnels in the Gaza war. Picture taken August 18, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem


Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


Connect with VINnews

Join our WhatsApp group


14 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Liepa
Liepa
9 years ago

Israel is to nice to these animals. Give them their wish, death!

yankee96
yankee96
9 years ago

Israel should forget about a cease fire and finish the job , as it is anyway suffering from bad media PR worldwide,and why give Hamas a chance to re- load?

Just keep showing this article over and over to any and all doubters about what the real issue is .

Barzilai
Active Member
Barzilai
9 years ago

This is the enemy we’re discussing a cease fire with, the terrorists supported by the idiots in Europe- “In peace we make preparations, and in war we use what we have readied,” he said.
This is like firefighters making a cease fire with a pyromaniacs so they can stockpile gasoline and rags.

9 years ago

They were speaking in soft voices and were laughing at times. What’s that all about. I never saw a news agency describing the voices.

Godol-Hador
Godol-Hador
9 years ago

Yes. Time for a cease fire. So humanitarian aid can enter Gaza. And they can replenish for the continued fight against the Jews.

bennyt
bennyt
9 years ago

These brave warriors hide in the ground like the rats that they are!

The_Truth
Noble Member
The_Truth
9 years ago

Whats behind the curtain in the last photo?
Probably “humanitarian” supplies, paid for by the UN, USK, UK, EU – humanitarians things like rockets!

sane
sane
9 years ago

Why doesn’t Israel tunnel into Gaza?

yaakov doe
Member
yaakov doe
9 years ago

Why do these warrios hide behind masks?

9 years ago

“Gaza City – Hamas fighters, clad in black and armed with assault rifles, navigated the dimly lit tunnel with ease, saying they felt at home in their network of underground passages in the Gaza Strip.”
Of course they do. Tunnels are where filthy rats belong.

bennyt
bennyt
9 years ago

They look like nice peace partners to me!

yidineh
yidineh
9 years ago

b’peh malei they speak their intentions; what part of their words does the world not understand?