IDF Doubts International Force Can Destroy Hamas Tunnels

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – In a sober and pragmatic assessment that casts significant doubt on a key pillar of the U.S.-brokered Gaza peace plan, senior Israeli defense officials have expressed serious reservations about the ability of a general International Stabilization Force to successfully dismantle the vast and complex network of tunnels still controlled by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

According to a report from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, high-ranking officials in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) believe that the formidable and highly specialized task of demolishing the subterranean infrastructure will require a dedicated "professional international engineering force," with tunnel destruction as its primary and explicit mission.

This position, coupled with IDF recommendations to maintain a flexible and robust security line and prevent the return of Gazans to sensitive perimeter areas, signals a deep-seated military concern that the political framework for the ceasefire's second phase may not be sufficient to achieve Israel's core security objective: ensuring that Hamas is stripped of its military capabilities for good.

This assessment from the IDF's top brass comes at a critical juncture in the fragile peace process. The first phase of the agreement, which came into effect on October 10, has largely held, despite a series of deadly incidents and accusations of breaches from both sides.

This initial stage has seen a pause in the fighting, the release of the remaining living Israeli hostages, and the beginning of the difficult process of returning the remains of deceased captives. Now, as attention shifts to the far more complex and politically fraught second phase—which envisions the establishment of a new governing body in Gaza, the complete disarmament of Hamas, and the deployment of an international force—the practical realities of implementation are coming into sharp focus.

The Hamas tunnel network, a multi-layered subterranean military and industrial complex built over three decades at an estimated cost of $6 billion, has been the group's most formidable strategic asset.

As detailed in a comprehensive report by the BBC, the network, thought to have extended for as much as 400 kilometers, was not just a series of passageways but a comprehensive system of workshops, weapons manufacturing sites, command centers, and, during the war, a massive underground prison for hostages.

While Israel's two-year military campaign inflicted significant damage, with defense establishment estimates suggesting that between 25% and 40% of the tunnels were destroyed, a substantial portion of this underground city remains intact. For the IDF, the complete destruction of this network is not a secondary objective but, as Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has stated, "the primary meaning" of the demilitarization and disarmament clauses of the ceasefire agreement.

It is within this context that the IDF's skepticism about a general-purpose stabilization force becomes clear.

The task of locating, mapping, and safely demolishing hundreds of kilometers of fortified tunnels, many of which are booby-trapped and concealed beneath the ruins of civilian infrastructure, is a highly specialized and dangerous form of engineering warfare.

The senior Israeli army officials cited by Haaretz believe that a standard peacekeeping force, which would likely be composed of infantry and security personnel from various countries, would lack the specific expertise, equipment, and mandate to carry out such a mission effectively. Their proposal for a dedicated international engineering force is a call for a solution that matches the unique and technical nature of the challenge.

As these strategic discussions take place, the IDF is already in the process of a significant operational drawdown in and around the Gaza Strip, in accordance with the first phase of the ceasefire.

According to Haaretz, temporary bases and outposts in the region are being evacuated, some forces have been redeployed to other missions, and a large number of reservists have been released, with more scheduled to end their duty in the coming days. This withdrawal, however, is being carefully managed with an eye toward the future security posture.

The IDF has recommended to the government that its forces pull back to a new defensive line that will allow the military to "operate and protect the Israeli communities near the Gaza border effectively." This may mean that, in some areas, the IDF will have to pull back further east than the initial "yellow line" established in the ceasefire agreement to create a more defensible and sustainable security buffer.

Crucially, the IDF has also requested that the government not allow Palestinian residents to return to these "perimeter" regions—the areas of the Gaza Strip that will remain under IDF operational control—in order to "prevent friction with troops."

This recommendation highlights the immense challenge of managing a post-conflict environment where Israeli soldiers will remain in close proximity to a traumatized and displaced civilian population, a situation ripe for misunderstandings and renewed violence.

The IDF's deep engagement in shaping the next phase of the agreement was also evident during a recent visit to Israel by U.S. Vice President JD Vance. In a situational assessment with the Vice President, senior IDF commanders made several key requests.

According to Haaretz, they asked Vance to ensure that the first stage of the agreement is carried out in full, making the return of all fallen hostages a "necessary condition" for the start of the second phase.

They also stressed their concerns about the composition of the international force, reportedly citing worries about the potential presence of Turkish troops and requesting that Vance "ensure that any decision on which forces will enter the Gaza Strip is agreed upon by all parties." Above all, the army stressed that it is "crucial to prevent Hamas from retaining any military or governing capabilities."

This final point remains the most significant and seemingly insurmountable obstacle to a lasting peace.

While the Trump peace plan and Israeli policy explicitly demand the complete disarmament of Hamas and its removal from power "in any form," the militant group has shown every indication that it has no intention of complying.

In the two weeks since the ceasefire began, Hamas has launched a bloody and public campaign to reassert its authority, with masked men returning to the streets to beat and execute opponents and members of rival groups. 

As the BBC reported, this has included impromptu firing squads dispatching kneeling men accused of being collaborators. This brutal show of force is a clear message, as one Gaza-based lawyer, Moumen al-Natour, told the BBC, "that they will neither relinquish power nor hand over their weapons."

Hamas's official statements have been equally defiant.

As reported by Kurdistan24, senior Hamas officials have repeatedly and publicly rejected the idea of disarmament, calling it "non-negotiable." Hamas political bureau member Hossam Badran told AFP that the movement's weapons are a "natural right," a position echoed by Bassem Naim, who told Sky News, "We are not going to be disarmed… until we have an independent self-sovereign state which can defend itself."

This fundamental clash of objectives has created a tense and uncertain reality on the ground. Hamas has probed Israeli defenses, prompting retaliatory airstrikes and fueling what one former Israeli official described to The Wall Street Journal as "gray-zone jostling for position and to establish the new rules of the strategic game."

While Hamas leaders have struck a more diplomatic tone in interviews with Arab media, their actions on the ground and their demands in negotiations—including a push for a 10-year ceasefire to enable talks on Gaza's future in which they expect to play a part—demonstrate a clear calculation that they can survive, and ultimately continue to rule. "For Hamas, the cease-fire is an agreement, not a surrender," as one expert told The Wall Street Journal.

The situation on the ground remains deeply volatile, with a complex and often contradictory set of dynamics at play. Some Gazans, exhausted by two years of war and what one aid worker described to the BBC as a "complete loss of law and order," see Hamas's reassertion of control as a preferable alternative to the chaos of rival gangs and militias.

"As unqualified as Hamas is to rule the Strip, they are a better option than the gangs," aid worker Hanya Aljamal said. Dr. Ahmad Yousef, a former advisor to the late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, suggested that this firm grip is a temporary necessity and that Hamas is looking to rebrand itself politically, likening the potential transition to that of the ANC in post-apartheid South Africa.

"I'm talking to many of them and they have said that they are not interested in ruling Gaza anymore," he told the BBC.

However, other Gazans are terrified, and many analysts remain deeply skeptical. "The fact is – and sometimes it's very hard for Israelis to admit this – that Hamas still exists and is the dominant player in Gaza," Dr. Michael Milshtein, a former head of Palestinian Affairs in Israeli Military Intelligence, told the BBC.

He argued that relying on clans and gangs as an alternative is an "illusion" and predicted another war within five years.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Arab mediators have picked up on signs of disagreement among the remaining Hamas leaders regarding the merits of the Trump plan, suggesting that the group's political leadership may not have full control over its military cells on the ground.

It is this defiant posture from a diminished but far from defeated Hamas that informs the IDF's cautious and methodical approach. The military's proposal for a specialized engineering force to tackle the tunnels is a reflection of its deep-seated belief that the physical infrastructure of Hamas's military power must be systematically and professionally dismantled.

Without this crucial step, senior officials fear that any political arrangement will be built on a hollow foundation, leaving Hamas with the capacity to rearm, regroup, and ultimately threaten Israel again in the future.

As the fragile truce holds and the world waits to see what comes next, the battle over the tunnels has become the central and defining challenge that will determine whether Gaza's next chapter will be one of sustainable peace or simply another temporary lull before the next war.