Thinking Outside the Box: Hamas’ Tunnels As Their Prisons
The need to think creatively about the tunnels is a response to the many 2000-pound bombs dropped by the Israelis on highly populated Gaza. The fact that Americans dropped two atomic bombs on Japan and firebombed Dresden during WWII does not excuse the bombing of Gaza. I maintain that the rest of the world perceives the huge bombs used on Gaza as unnecessary and inhumane.
I understand the depth of depravity of the horrific attack by Hamas on October 7th, and I condemn it. I also know that nothing worthwhile comes from terrorist attacks, But there had to be a better way to fight back. Thus, I began my search for a way to destroy the tunnels Hamas erected under Gaza.
The first problem is finding the tunnels, which is not difficult if you think outside the box. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) can find all the tunnels. Using the simple version of (GPR) whereby the radar device mounts on a small push cart similar to a lawn mower, would endanger the operators of the carts, who would make easy targets for snipers. However, a common drone-mounted GPR would solve that problem.
If there were attempts by snipers to shoot down the drone, an accompanying tank could destroy the cover taken by the sniper rather than destroying the whole building as an air-dropped bomb would do. Furthermore, accompanying Israeli snipers might be able to solve that problem without a tank round. The GPR image shows the tunnel's position, and explosives can penetrate the tunnel roof. Even better would be a drill to bore through the roof. A tracked military drilling rig would be the most practical drill.
After breaching a tunnel, an operator can send a small tracked robot carrying a video camera in both directions along the tunnel floor. These commonly used devices can determine what's at either end of a tunnel. Infantry with mobile ballistic shields would advance in both directions to take control of each tunnel.
Of course, not all hostages are always in the tunnels. The terrorists move some hostages around between tunnels and above-ground apartments. Also, not all Hamas fighters would be in the tunnels. However, most of Hamas’ weaponry and ammunition would likely be there.
At the time of this writing, Hamas controls most of the tunnels, which provide some degree of safety for Hamas fighters. Also, about 1.4 million Palestinians are cramped into Rafah the last place in Gaza to escape the fighting. The bombing must not follow them. If Israel pushes into Rafah with infantry and perhaps some support from tanks in a hunt for the remaining Hamas battalions, many of those fighters are likely to shelter in the tunnels. Yet, the tunnels can become prisons if the Israelis take over key parts of them by using GPR. Of course, the Hamas fighters who leave their weapons in the tunnels and try to mix in with the general population may evade capture in some cases but would no longer be a military threat to Israel or the Palestinians.
The main danger remaining to the citizens of Gaza is starvation. The goal of the world is to prevent as many deaths from inevitable starvation as possible. Unfortunately, some citizens have already starved to death, and it is too late to avoid many more. Low supplies for many months have left the majority on the brink of starvation. The heroic efforts of the World Central Kitchen will save many lives.
However, an Israeli assault on Rafah may prevent over a million people there from receiving needed supplies. Yet, an infantry assault, including an attempt to take over the tunnels as outlined above, might not interrupt supplies. The likely result of such an attack would be thousands fewer casualties than any other method of degrading Hamas. There would be far fewer lives lost from the fighting, as well as starvation.
Still, the political losses for Israel and the Biden administration have been enormous. Neither one changed rapidly enough after it was clear to the world that a disaster was unfolding. The damage to civilians has been tremendous and continues to grow. Only the Biden administration realized it must change its approach, yet it has not done so quickly enough. If the Biden administration had addressed the situation with greater creativity, it could have saved thousands of innocent lives. Fortunately, there is still time to change what happens in Gaza. The Biden administration should urge Israel to consider taking over the tunnels with the assistance of GPR.
The overall benefits of Israeli control of the tunnels include the possible freeing of some hostages, the military advantages that would come with such control, and the tremendous political advantage of avoiding large numbers of additional civilian deaths from pursuing Hamas into Rafah.