Day 21 of fighting in Gaza has begun as the Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise cross-border incursion on Israel, killing over 1,400 people. Since the October 7 attack, Israel has continued shelling Gaza, killing over 7,000 Palestinians. On Friday, the Israeli military advanced farther into Gaza in preparation for a ground offensive against Hamas. One of the most difficult difficulties for Israeli troops is a substantial Hamas tunnel network, through which the group is alleged to have captured several captives.
To combat Hamas via its tunnel network, Israel is apparently developing “sponge bombs”
Hamas reportedly has different kinds of tunnels, hundreds of kilometers long and up to 80 meters deep, running beneath the sandy 360-square-kilometer coastal strip and its borders. To combat Hamas via its tunnel network, Israel is apparently developing “sponge bombs,” which produce a brief explosion of foam that gradually expands and hardens. According to The Telegraph, Israel has been testing chemical grenades, which do not contain explosives but are designed to close off holes or tunnel entrances from which Hamas operatives could escape. These gadgets are believed to be protected by a plastic container with a metal barrier that separates two distinct liquids. When activated, these liquids combine and go toward their objective.
During operations in a pretend tunnel system near the Gaza border in 2021, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were seen deploying these devices. Yahalom, professional commandos from Israel’s Combat Engineering Corps known as the “weasels,” who specialize in finding, clearing, and destroying tunnels, is one of the elite teams entrusted with delving underground. Hamas was founded in Gaza in 1987 and is said to have begun excavating tunnels in the mid-1990s. (https://editorialrm.com/) The tunnel network is one of the main reasons Hamas is stronger in Gaza than in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Tunneling got simpler in 2005 when Israel withdrew its soldiers and settlers from Gaza, and again in 2006, when Hamas won power in an election.