What the death tunnels of Gaza revealed

By now, most every media outlet has aired the horrors of the Gaza tunnel, which housed the six Israeli hostages, who were murdered in cold blood less than two weeks ago. IDF spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari went to the very location where the six breathed their last breath, in order to show the squalid conditions to which they were subjected, in the event that their nightmare existence, over the past 11 months, was not completely clear to everyone.

Speculation was swirling, in the weekend newspapers, as to what the purpose was for showing this crude image, leaving nothing to the imagination. Those who offered explanations seemed to limit the reason to one objective, some of which included the importance of reflecting the reality of what took place, to show under what type of barbaric conditions the captives were forced to endure and finally to provide a stark public relations message just to set the record straight.

While all of these are plausible justifications for retracing the steps into what some might describe as the pit of hell, there is yet another motive for feeling the need to expose this deeply disturbing scene that we were all forced to witness. It is the same rationale for why Auschwitz and all the other concentration camps have been preserved for posterity - to document the unspeakable evils to which man can descend when his heart is filled with the diabolic hatred and darkness which is anathema to being created in the image of God.

These visuals are nothing more than the end result of our worst capabilities, collectively making us ashamed to be part of the same species as monsters who are able to sink to such depravity. 

In the case of Israel, it is more than likely that these tunnels will be destroyed, ending the 20 years of dedicated labor, based on a hateful and vengeful ideology, which constructed this tunnel and the many others like it, built to house weapons of mass destruction and be the final ill-fated journey for those who have already perished in these chambers of death. 

And that is why it is all the more important to film the interior before turning it into a pile of rubble. Unlike the Nazi death camps, these tunnels cannot remain as a memorial to the atrocities that were committed there, because their demolition will ensure that Hamas’ capabilities are hampered since they won't be able to smuggle goods and weapons. 

No longer will they be able to keep hostages buried under the ground in a purgatory of uncertainty, counting the days until they are, once again, free to see the light of day and breathe the clean air of freedom? For now, we can only imagine that most have already lost hope and are actually counting the days when they will depart this earth, because the hell they are living is simply too much to bear.

The walk into that tunnel showed us just how sinister and twisted people can become if they are willing participants of a demonic theology that has no value for anyone or anything – only the preoccupation with murder, destruction and carnage. But more importantly, it showed us just how much we, the people of reason, sound thinking and empathy must not allow that kind of devastating sickness of the mind and heart to co-exist or survive alongside of sane civilizations.

The tunnels, and what has taken place inside of them, reflect the evil of our time, created by thousands upon thousands of Gaza residents who were, undoubtedly, paid and subsisted upon this contemptible employment to feed their families and make a living. Did they ever ask questions as to the purpose of these tunnels or was that even necessary?

Once the manual labor was completed, the next step was to fill them with rockets and other weapons that were intended to annihilate their neighbors, the same people, some of whom politically and economically advocated for Gazans to enjoy a better standard of life. Others welcomed them into their homes to eat with them, in their kibbutz communities, as they were afforded the opportunity of a work permit by an unsuspecting government who never thought, for one minute, that they would so viciously turn on their benefactors who allowed them entrance in order to better themselves. 

So, if these Gazans willingly joined forces with Hamas terrorists, to exterminate the people next door, why are they still being characterized as victims who are suffering the effects of an unjust war, perpetrated against them? It’s truly hard to make a case that only some knew what was going on, because, with each new tunnel that was discovered, over the past 11 months, it became clearer and clearer that the manpower required to build these tunnels had to be massive.

According to Middle East Eye, it was disclosed in “secret military documents published this year that more than 2,000 cross-border tunnels were destroyed by Egyptian military engineers in the border city of Rafah just between 2011 and 2015.” How many workers did it take to build 2,000? “Some of the tunnels destroyed reached a depth of 30 meters underground.” This requires serious manpower.

Many of the tunnels were constructed under densely populated areas where those living above could surely hear the work that was going on right under their dwellings. Did they ask any questions? Or did they also know all too well what was happening?

Just in Rafah, there is said to be a “network of more than 200 tunnels, 80% of which the IDF says it has already destroyed.”

Already in January 2024, “over 560-720 kilometers accessed by 5,700 different shafts had been reported,” which doesn’t even take into account the many tunnels that have been discovered to this present day. 

As of March 2024, it was reported that 85% of strategic tunnels in Khan Yunis had been destroyed, yet another area of Gaza where 140 kilometers of tunnels were located. This does not include “medium-level command tunnels and the least important tactical travel tunnels, the IDF has said could take years to destroy.”

It’s hard to estimate just how many tunnels were built over the last 18-20 years, but it would seem to be in the thousands as well as a well-known open secret by every Gazan resident, all of whom could not have possibly been unaware of the purpose of this constant work going on all around them.

The tunnels have revealed so many things – the profound depth of evil which was lurking at our borders, the complicity of so many and the inability to make peace with those who hate us so much that they spent a good portion of their lives planning our demise rather than living life to the fullest.

The tunnels are a testament to why we cannot end the battle before a full victory is accomplished, because next time, we might be the ones in that pit of hell, asking ourselves why in the world we capitulated!