JERUSALEM/LONDON ¨C What lies in wait for Israeli ground troops in Gaza, security sources say, is a Hamas tunnel network hundreds of kilometers long and up to 80 meters deep, described by one freed hostage as ¡°a spider¡¯s web¡± and by one expert as the ¡°Viet Cong times 10.¡±
The Palestinian Islamist group has different kinds of tunnels running beneath the sandy 360-square-kilometer coastal strip and its borders ¡ª including attack, smuggling, storage and operational burrows, Western and Middle East sources familiar with the matter said.
The United States believes Israel¡¯s special forces will face an unprecedented challenge having to battle Hamas militants while trying to avoid killing hostages held below ground, a U.S. official said.
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