 "The Israeli military said it has found the tunnel in Gaza where Hadar Goldin's body was held by Hamas. Image Courtesy: Bring Them Home Now/Handout via Reuters (L) + X/@IDF (R)")
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has unearthed a massive underground tunnel in Gaza, where it said the remains of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin were held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Last week, the 23-year-old soldier’s body returned to Israel for burial 4,118 days after he was killed during an ambush and taken captive to Gaza.
In a post on X on Thursday (November 20), the IDF shared a video of the tunnel where Goldin’s remains were held. The military said it was “one of the most significant and complex” tunnels found by the IDF in the southern Gaza Strip.
Let’s take a closer look.
Tunnel that held Israel soldier’s body
The IDF said it has uncovered an underground tunnel route, which spans over seven kilometres and is around 25 meters deep, in Rafah, Gaza.
According to the Israeli military, the tunnel passed through a dense residential area near the Philadelphi Corridor, which stretches along the Gaza-Egypt border.
“The route runs beneath a densely populated residential neighbourhood near the Philadelphi Corridor and continues through sensitive civilian areas, including a UNRWA [United Nations Agency For Palestinian Refugees] compound, mosques, clinics, kindergartens and schools,” the IDF said.
The underground structure was discovered during a Southern Command operation in southern Rafah, led by the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit and the Shayetet 13 naval commando unit.
The IDF said the tunnel had 80 separate rooms, including command-and-control rooms that senior Hamas operatives used to reside for long periods, store weapons, and plan attacks.
The IDF said Mohammad Shabaneh, commander of the Rafah Brigade, was among the senior Hamas figures who used the complex.
Israel killed Shabana, along with top Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar, in May.
Goldin laid to rest
Hamas said earlier this month that it recovered Goldin’s body from a tunnel in Rafah, which is currently under the IDF’s control.
As per The Times of Israel, the Israeli military scoured the area for Goldin’s body in the past year, but was unaware of the exact location.
Goldin’s remains returned to Israel over 11 years after he was killed and abducted by Hamas gunmen during the 2014 Gaza War. He was taken captive while attempting to dismantle a terror tunnel during a ceasefire.
Earlier this month, the IDF’s Nahal Brigade destroyed the shaft used by Hamas militants to kidnap Goldin.
Last week, Goldin was laid to rest in Israel, with crowds gathering for his funeral.
Hamas’ vast tunnel network in Gaza
Hamas has built an extensive network of underground tunnels in Gaza. Spanning more than 500 kilometres, the Israeli military has dubbed it the Gaza metro.
These tunnels have been used to move construction materials, food, medicine, clothing, fuel, as well as computers, livestock and cars. Hamas used them to smuggle in weapons, according to National Geographic.
The militant group taxes everything that comes through these tunnels, generating an estimated revenue of $750 million a year.
As per Reuters reports and IDF images, the tunnels are equipped with specialised sections for launching military attacks, as well as logistics areas, storage facilities and transportation routes.
Hamas used the tunnels to hide the hostages it captured during its October 7 attack on Israel, which sparked the over two-year-long deadly war.
In December 2023, the Israeli military said it found the “ biggest Hamas tunnel ” in the Gaza Strip, which was wide enough for small vehicles to pass through. Concealed in a sand dune, the structure spread for over four kilometres and was within 400 metres of the Erez border crossing between Gaza and Israel.
The tunnel, which ran down a depth of 50 meters below ground, had cables and piping to provide power and ventilation, the Israeli military said.
In June this year, the IDF said that it found the body of Muhammad Sinwar, one of Hamas’ top militant commanders, inside a tunnel underneath the emergency department of the European Gaza Hospital southern city of Khan Younis. The 49-year-old was killed in an Israeli air strike on May 13, which the Hamas-run civil defence agency said killed 28 people and injured dozens.
The Israeli military has also claimed to have discovered tunnels underneath Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City and a United Nations complex in the city.
It said IDF troops found another terrorist tunnel underneath the Rantisi Hospital, as well as a large amount of weaponry and ammunition in the Al-Quds Hospital.
With inputs from agencies