The ongoing anti-terrorist campaign in Gaza has given the Israeli military a firsthand glimpse of the elaborate tunnel system Hamas has constructed in lieu of providing basic care to its citizens. The scope of these tunnels, where top Hamas leaders are believed to have been hiding since the Oct. 7 massacre, is almost unfathomable.
According to the New York Times, Israeli defense officials now estimate the tunnel network in Gaza to be somewhere between 350 and 450 miles in length, up from their December estimate of 250 miles. That would make the Hamas tunnel system almost as long as the world's largest subway system in Beijing, which spans more than 500 miles.
Non-terrorist governments spend enormous sums of taxpayer money constructing and maintaining their subway systems. Experts say the Hamas tunnel network, while admittedly less advanced technologically, likely cost billions of dollars—acquired via Iran as well as pilfered "aid" funds—and required an immense amount of manpower to build. The immense cost suggests that Hamas views killing Jews, as opposed to caring for its citizens, as its top priority.
For context, here's how the Hamas terror tunnels stack up against other tunnel systems in major cities around the world:
