Story highlights
- Tunnels unacceptable to Israel; a defense tactic to Palestinians
- Built to beat the Gaza blockade, the tunnels now get used to launch attacks
- CNN's Wolf Blitzer describes the underground paths of Hamas
- Israel wants to destroy the tunnel network
The opening was so small that CNN's Wolf Blitzer -- no physical giant -- had to bend down to climb inside one of 30 or so Palestinian tunnels from Gaza to southern Israel.
"I guess the tunnel was built for relatively short people, because if you stand up you're going to hit your head," Blitzer said of the almost two-mile concrete corridor about 45 feet underground where he reported from Monday.
His visit, accompanied by the Israeli military, revealed conditions in the network of tunnels below Gaza that are a key issue in the current violent spasm between Hamas militants in Gaza and Israel.
Originally built to avoid Israeli and Egyptian checkpoints into Gaza, the tunnels have been vital supply lines for Palestinians in Gaza. Now the snaking underground routes increasingly get used for attacks in Israel.
Wolf Blitzer goes inside a Hamas tunnel 02:19
Exclusive look inside Hamas tunnels 06:36
CNN reporter has close call in Gaza 02:55
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians in Gaza celebrate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on Tuesday, August 26. After more than seven weeks of heavy fighting, Israel and Hamas agreed to an open-ended ceasefire that puts off dealing with core long-term issues.
Hide Caption
1 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians inspect the damage to a residential building following several late night Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on August 26.
Hide Caption
2 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Gila, center, mother of 4-year-old Israeli boy Daniel Tragerman, sits next to his grave during his funeral near the Israel-Gaza border on Sunday, August 24.
Hide Caption
3 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians run away from debris after a bomb from an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Gaza on Saturday, August 23.
Hide Caption
4 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – An Israeli soldier smokes a cigarette in a large concrete pipe used as shelter at an army deployment point near the Israeli-Gaza border on Wednesday, August 20.
Hide Caption
5 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Light trails made by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip stand out against the night sky on Tuesday, August 19. Despite efforts to come to a peaceful agreement, Gaza militants launched rockets into Israel on Tuesday, and Israel responded with its own rockets.
Hide Caption
6 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – An injured Palestinian man is helped into the Shifa hospital in Gaza City on August 19.
Hide Caption
7 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Police examine the remains of a rocket launched from Gaza that landed near the kibbutz of Yad Mordechay on August 19.
Hide Caption
8 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City on August 19.
Hide Caption
9 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Islam El Masri begins to sort through the rubble of her destroyed home in Beit Hanoun, Gaza, on Thursday, August 14.
Hide Caption
10 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Israelis gather in Tel Aviv during a protest August 14 calling on the government and the army to end Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza once and for all.
Hide Caption
11 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Smoke rises in Gaza City after an airstrike on Saturday, August 9.
Hide Caption
12 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers walk past a Merkava tank as they patrol a field near Israel's border with Gaza on August 9.
Hide Caption
13 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian boy salvages family belongings from the rubble of a four-story building after an airstrike in Gaza City on Friday, August 8.
Hide Caption
14 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Israelis flee after a rocket fired from Gaza hit the residential neighborhood of Sderot, Israel, on August 8.
Hide Caption
15 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian man looks out over destruction in the al-Tufah neighborhood of Gaza City on Wednesday, August 6.
Hide Caption
16 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Displaced Palestinians carry their belongings as they leave a United Nations school in Beit Lahiya, Gaza, to return to their homes Tuesday, August 5.
Hide Caption
17 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – The body of Avrohom Wallis is carried during his funeral in Jerusalem on Monday, August 4. Wallis was killed in what Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld called a "terror attack," when a man drove an earthmover into a bus in Jerusalem.
Hide Caption
18 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers fire a mortar shell toward Gaza from the Israeli side of the border on August 4.
Hide Caption
19 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians remove rubble from a house hit by an airstrike in the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on August 4.
Hide Caption
20 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – An Israeli drone circles over Gaza City on Sunday, August 3.
Hide Caption
21 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian man sits in a hospital in Rafah, Gaza, on August 3.
Hide Caption
22 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – An honor guard caries the coffin of Israeli Lt. Hadar Goldin during his funeral in Kfar-saba, Israel, on August 3. Goldin was thought to have been captured during fighting in Gaza but was later declared killed in action by the Israel Defense Forces.
Hide Caption
23 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian boy looks for belongings after an airstrike in Rafah on Saturday, August 2.
Hide Caption
24 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers walk to their tank at a staging area near the border with Gaza on August 2.
Hide Caption
25 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – A young Palestinian carries damaged copies of the Quran from the rubble of the Imam Al Shafaey mosque in Gaza City on August 2.
Hide Caption
26 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians displaced from their houses return to check their homes in Gaza City on Friday, August 1.
Hide Caption
27 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – An Israeli soldier carries a shell as he prepares a tank along the Israel-Gaza border on Thursday, July 31. Israel called up 16,000 additional reservists, bolstering forces for its fight against Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza.
Hide Caption
28 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Smoke rises from a building after an airstrike in Rafah on July 31.
Hide Caption
29 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – The parents and a sister of Israeli soldier Guy Algranati mourn during his funeral in Tel Aviv on July 31.
Hide Caption
30 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – U.N. workers remove a donkey injured at a U.N.-run school in Gaza on Wednesday, July 30.
Hide Caption
31 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians walk under the collapsed minaret of a destroyed mosque in Gaza City on July 30.
Hide Caption
32 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians gather leaflets that fell from an Israeli plane on July 30. The leaflets warned residents of airstrikes in Gaza City.
Hide Caption
33 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Israelis take cover from a Palestinian rocket attack from Gaza during the funeral of Israeli soldier Meidan Maymon Biton, which was held at a cemetery in Netivot, Israel, on Tuesday, July 29.
Hide Caption
34 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Smoke and fire rise above Gaza City after an Israeli airstrike on July 29.
Hide Caption
35 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – An Israeli soldier prays on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza on July 29 as smoke billows from the only power plant supplying electricity to Gaza.
Hide Caption
36 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Near the rubble of their home in Rafah, Palestinian men mourn July 29 for people killed during an airstrike.
Hide Caption
37 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian man places a portrait of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya on the rubble of Haniya's Gaza City home July 29 after it was hit by an overnight airstrike.
Hide Caption
38 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Flares from Israeli forces light up the night sky of Gaza City on July 29.
Hide Caption
39 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers carry the coffin of 2nd Lt. Roy Peles, an infantry officer who was killed in combat, during his funeral in Tel Aviv on Sunday, July 27.
Hide Caption
40 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – During a 12-hour cease-fire in Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighborhood on Saturday, July 26, a Palestinian man sits atop a car filled with belongings that were salvaged from a destroyed home.
Hide Caption
41 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers watch a bomb explode along the border with Gaza before the 12-hour cease-fire on July 26.
Hide Caption
42 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – As her brother-in-law Mazen Keferna weeps on the ground, Manal Keferna cries upon discovering her family home destroyed by airstrikes in Beit Hanoun on July 26.
Hide Caption
43 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians dig a body out of the rubble of a destroyed house in Gaza during the cease-fire on July 26.
Hide Caption
44 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – An Israeli soldier mourns at the grave of reserve Master Sgt. Yair Ashkenazy during his funeral at the military cemetery in Rehovot, Israel, on Friday, July 25. Ashkenazy was killed during operations in northern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces reported.
Hide Caption
45 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian man cries after bringing a child to the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya on Thursday, July 24. The child was wounded in a strike on a school that was serving as a shelter for families in Gaza. It's unclear who was behind the strike. The Israeli military said it was "reviewing" the incident, telling CNN that a rocket fired from Gaza could have been responsible.
Hide Caption
46 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers carry a wounded soldier to a helicopter near the Israel-Gaza border on July 24.
Hide Caption
47 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers patrol the Israel-Gaza border on July 24.
Hide Caption
48 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – A trail of blood is seen in the courtyard of the school that was hit July 24 in the Beit Hanoun district of Gaza.
Hide Caption
49 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – An Israeli tank fires toward Gaza from a position near Israel's border on July 24.
Hide Caption
50 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – A photograph tweeted by astronaut Alexander Gerst on Wednesday, July 23, shows major cities of Israel and Gaza. Gerst said in his tweet: "My saddest photo yet. From #ISS we can actually see explosions and rockets flying over #Gaza & #Israel."
Hide Caption
51 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – A woman in Philadelphia passes by a departure board that shows US Airways Flight 796, scheduled to fly to Tel Aviv, has been canceled on Tuesday, July 22. The Federal Aviation Administration told U.S. airlines they were temporarily prohibited from flying to the Tel Aviv airport after a Hamas rocket exploded nearby.
Hide Caption
52 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Smoke and fire from the explosion of an Israeli strike rise over Gaza City on July 22.
Hide Caption
53 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – A relative of Israeli soldier Jordan Ben-Simon mourns over his coffin during his funeral in Ashkelon, Israel, on July 22.
Hide Caption
54 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians inspect destroyed buildings and collect usable items after an Israeli air assault on July 22.
Hide Caption
55 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers weep at the grave of Israeli Sgt. Adar Barsano during his funeral Sunday, July 20, in Nahariya, Israel.
Hide Caption
56 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinian medics carry a body in Gaza's Shaja'ia district on July 20.
Hide Caption
57 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers give medical care to soldiers who were wounded during an offensive in Gaza on July 20.
Hide Caption
58 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian boy injured during an Israeli airstrike is taken to the hospital by his father in Gaza City on July 20.
Hide Caption
59 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Palestinians flee their homes as Israeli troops focus their firepower on the Gaza town of Shaja'ia on Sunday, July 20. The shelling and bombing killed at least 60 people and wounded 300, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Hide Caption
60 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Smoke rises after an Israeli missile hit Shaja'ia on July 20.
Hide Caption
61 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian child walks on debris from a destroyed house following an overnight Israeli strike in Beit Lahiya on Saturday, July 19.
Hide Caption
62 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – An explosion rocks a street in Gaza City on Friday, July 18.
Hide Caption
63 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli ground forces move to the Gaza border on July 18.
Hide Caption
64 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Israeli soldiers patrol near the Israel-Gaza border on July 18.
Hide Caption
65 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – A relative mourns July 18 during the funeral of Rani Abu Tawila, a Palestinian who was killed in an Israeli attack on Gaza City.
Hide Caption
66 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian demonstrator, protesting Israel's military operation in Gaza, runs through smoke July 18 during clashes with Israeli soldiers at the entrance of the Ofer prison in the West Bank village of Betunia.
Hide Caption
67 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – This image, made from video shot through a night-vision scope, was released by the Israeli military on July 18. It shows troops moving through a wall opening during the early hours of the ground offensive in Gaza.
Hide Caption
68 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Children stare as Palestinians flee Khan Yunis, Gaza, to safe areas July 18.
Hide Caption
69 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – An Israeli tank fires a shell into Gaza on July 18.
Hide Caption
70 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – A Palestinian carries a gas cylinder salvaged from the rubble of an apartment building after it was hit by Israeli fire on July 18.
Hide Caption
71 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – An Israeli reservist prays July 18 near the Gaza border by Sderot, Israel.
Hide Caption
72 of 73
Photos: Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis
Israel-Gaza crisis – Flare smoke rises into the Gaza City sky on Thursday, July 17.
Hide Caption
73 of 73
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a ground assault on Gaza this month intended to destroy the tunnel network, and Blitzer went into one of them so see what it was like.
Cooler than the surface
So far down, the tunnel was surprisingly cool inside compared to the hot conditions on the surface, Blitzer noted.
Stooped over, he walked along the concrete-encased pathway with wiring visible in some parts.
The concrete came from Israel, as did the electric power Palestinians send down for lights in some parts, said Lt. Col. Oshik Azouli, deputy commander of Israel's Southern Gaza Brigade.
It took two years or more, progressing a meter or two a day, to extend the tunnel into Israel, according to Azouli.
"It's pretty secure, this concrete," Blitzer said. "They spent a lot of effort building this tunnel."
The tunnel ended near a kibbutz in Israel, Azouli said, adding its purpose was to attack people on the collective agriculture community.
Used for attacks
Later Monday, the Palestinian representative to the United States told Blitzer the tunnels originated to get around the blockade of Gaza, but take on another role in conflict.
"Factions in Gaza are utilizing them to target the Israeli military, especially at times of conflict," Maen Rashid Areikat said, adding: "They want to be creative about how to respond to any attacks. and probably also take initiative."
A series of Hamas attacks via tunnels on Israeli soil escalated Israel's response in the current violence.
The method of attack, in which militants spring out unexpectedly from underground, has raised fears among Israelis living near Gaza.
"They are a strategic danger," Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said of the tunnels later Monday, telling Blitzer it was "unacceptable" to have Hamas attackers "just pop out of the ground on our side of the frontier to murder and kidnap."
However, Palestinian parliament member Mustafa Barghouti called the tunnels a defensive tactic against repeated Israeli invasions in recent years.
"These tunnels are nothing but a primitive way of trying to defend themselves," he told Blitzer.
Children die in Gaza camp shelling 02:50
Explosions, gunfire in Gaza fighting 04:27
'Lower Gaza'
Israeli military officials refer to the tunnels as "Lower Gaza."
They aren't new. Hamas used one in 2006 to capture Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and take him into Gaza. He was held captive for five years until a deal was struck for his release in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
During its incursion into Gaza, Israel's military has so far found scores of different access shafts leading to about 30 tunnels. It says it destroyed about half, but expects to find more.
Blitzer said Israel wants to remove the tunnels from the equation before agreeing to a cease-fire with Hamas.
