A Review Of The Use Of Tunnels By Hamas, Hizbullah, Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Ansar Allah (Houthis), And Other Jihadi Groups And Ramifications For U.S. National Security – With Foreword By General (Ret) Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., USMC

Steven Stalinsky, Ph.D., R. Sosnow, A. Smith, Z. Emile, K. Choukry, Matt Schierer, N. Mozes, Y. Kerman, N. Shulder, and A. Goren

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Introduction

Hamas's October 7, 2023 surprise attack, which included the use of paragliders, the tearing down of the border fence, the taking of hostages, and their transport, along with bodies of the murdered, into the massive network of Hamas's tunnels, was a huge military achievement for terrorist organizations and serves as a model for others to follow in future attacks. As Hamas leader abroad Khaled Mash'al said on October 26, 2023 on Egyptian television: "The Russians told us that what happened on October 7 would be taught in military academies. The Chinese are thinking of carrying out a plan in Taiwan, doing what the Al-Qassam Brigades did on October 7. The Arabs are giving the world a master class."[1]

The construction of at least 300 miles of tunnels right under the noses of Israeli and even U.S. intelligence was a stunning achievement. John Spencer, the Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point's Modern War Institute, outlined the extent of the tunnel network under Gaza on July 1, 2024: "It is growing more and more difficult to describe Hamas's underground network in Gaza as the Israeli military continue discovering tunnels, London metro 402 km, New York subway system 399 km, Seoul metro 340 km. The 'Gaza metro' is believed to be over 500 km but may end up being even bigger."[2] Spencer detailed this issue in a longer article titled "Gaza's Underground: Hamas's Entire Politico-Military Strategy Rests on Its Tunnels."[3] Spencer also wrote, alongside Colonel Patrick Sullivan and Modern War Institute editor-in-chief John Amble, a study titled "Israel's Campaign against Hezbollah and the Fight for Southern Lebanon's Tunnels" in which they concluded: "The fight to control the tunnels and deny their control to Hezbollah is a necessary component of any campaign against the group. A war might not be won exclusively in the tunnels, but it cannot be won without accounting for them."