A Hamas militant cell used landline phones for two years to plan the October 7 attack on Israel.
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CNN sources with knowledge of US intelligence reported this.
Thanks to telephone networks in the tunnels of the Gaza Strip, Israeli intelligence could not track the terrorists’ communications.
A small group of Hamas militants planning an attack on Israel communicated for two years through a network of landline phones in tunnels under the Gaza Strip, two sources familiar with US intelligence told CNN.
Classic telephone lines laid through a network of tunnels allowed militants to secretly communicate with each other and did not allow Israeli intelligence services to intercept communications.
According to sources, the cell remained in the shadows for two years and became active only before the attack on Israel on October 7.
All this time, the militants did not use computers or mobile phones, CNN sources say.
There was no discussion, correspondence or coordination outside this particular area,” one of them said.
CNN was unable to obtain official comments on this matter.
Hamas tunnels
A network of tunnels built by Hamas will greatly complicate urban warfare during an Israeli ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, experts say.
The scale of the problem in Gaza, where hundreds of miles of tunnels criss-cross underground, is absolutely unique, said John Spencer, director of urban warfare research at the Institute of Modern Warfare at the US Military Academy at West Point.
The network of approximately 1,300 tunnels is believed to have a total length of about 500 kilometers, with some located 70 meters underground. Most tunnels are no more than two meters high and wide. According to experts, it is most likely that about 200 hostages captured by Hamas militants during the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel are being held here.
The tunnels also house warehouses for weapons and other equipment, food, water, energy generators, and fuel. Researchers believe Hamas leaders are likely also hiding underground.
I wrote about the Hamás tunnels and the nightmare they create for the @IDF last week @WarInstitutehttps://t.co/0OG8SCrnFw
– John Spencer (@SpencerGuard) October 23, 2023
As Spencer notes, the Gaza tunnels will further complicate an already challenging combat scenario by “allowing Hamas fighters to move safely and freely between battle positions” and thus provide “an excellent counterbalance to Israel’s advantages in technology and organization.” .
Michael Martin, a specialist in the psychology of war at King’s College London, points out another problem with urban warfare. The problem, the expert said, “can be described as fighting in three dimensions,” and it exists “along with the dangers associated with the inability to distinguish between military and civilian targets, as required by international law.”
People will shoot at you from above, from high-rise buildings, and also, of course, from underground… And, of course, if you destroy a building, it will turn into a pile of rubble, which becomes a very convenient place to use as cover, from where they will open on you fire. in response,” Martin explained in an interview with DW.
Therefore, in fact, the city is the most “difficult terrain that an army can encounter,” the British expert emphasizes.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.