Sources say a small cell of Hamas operatives planned the deadly surprise attack on Israel over a period of two years . The phone lines in the tunnels allowed the operatives to communicate with one another in secret and meant they could not be tracked by Israeli intelligence officials . They avoided using computers or cell phones during the twoyear period to evade detection by Israeli or US intelligence . Israel was aware that Palestinian militants had been using hardwired communication systems prior to the October attack . The Israel Defense Forces colloquially refers to the tunnels built by Hamas over the last fifteen years as the Gaza metro . The tunnels make up a vast labyrinth that is used to store rockets and ammunition caches as well as provide a way for militants to move about unnoticed . The IDF also says it contains vital Hamas command and control centers . The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment and the Israeli embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment . The Israeli military encountered what appeared to be a similar kind of communication system when the Israeli military raided the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank this summer according to an Israeli official . It encountered what appears to have been a similar type of communications system when it raided the Israeli official. It encountered a similar sort of communication systems when the IDF raided the southern West Bank in the southern region this summer. The Israeli official said it encountered similar kind to a similar kinds of communication System when the . Israeli military. It said it was a similar to the Israeli officer. It was a ‘hot-hot-bedbedbed’ system. When the Israeli government’s ‘cold-bed’bedbed‘bed“bed”bedbed bed’ in the area. ‘bedding.
Hamas operatives used phone lines installed in tunnels under Gaza to plan Israel attack over 2 years
