Iran Update, December 17, 2023
Dec 17, 2023 - ISW PressIsraeli forces uncovered an advanced and extensive Hamas tunnel system in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported on December 17 that its forces had uncovered four kilometers of the tunnel near the Erez crossing in recent weeks. The tunnel is wide enough for vehicles to pass through it, reinforced with concrete, and connected to electricity and communications infrastructure. Israel said one section of the tunnel is the largest that it has discovered in the Gaza Strip and 400 meters from Israeli territory. The IDF stated that it was not familiar with the tunnel route nor its enormous scope prior to the war. The Wall Street Journal published a map of the tunnel system that Hamas has created below the Gaza Strip based on data from 2014, which includes a singular tunnel running south of the Erez checkpoint. The IDF published a map on December 17 of the entire tunnel network that it has uncovered, which shows a notable expansion of the tunnels’ coverage and complexity compared to the 2014 data.