The Gaza Metro is an extensive network of underground tunnels used by Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist militant and political organization in the Gaza Strip. Hamas over the years has used the tunnels to secretly move weapons, fighters, and contraband around the strip, bypassing traditional Israeli blockades. The number of Gaza Metro tunnels is disputed. It has been reported by different sources to include up to 250 underground tunnels and smugglers’ routes.
The tunnels vary in size, ranging from small passages that a few individuals could use at one time to large-scale routes capable of transferring weapons and supplies in and out of the Gaza Strip. The structures vary in depth, running anywhere from around 1 meter to 60 meters below the surface. Some of the deeper tunnels even have electricity and phone hookups.
The Gaza Metro serves a variety of purposes for Hamas, but its primary use is to move weapons from Gaza to the West Bank. Over the years, the Gaza Metro has allowed Hamas to continue their “resistance” operations and smuggle weapons to Palestinian fighters in the West Bank. It has also been used to transfer commodities and supplies in defiance of the Israeli-led economic blockade.
The existence of the Gaza Metro has been a source of contention between Israel and Hamas. Israeli forces have conducted rail-focused operations to destroy as much of the network as possible. However, Hamas continues to move and improve the tunnel network, and its true strength remains unknown.
