Elite IDF Unit Begins Destroying Hundreds of Miles of Gaza Terror Tunnels: 'Guerilla Warfare 2.0'

SOUTHERN ISRAEL – It has been dubbed "The Gaza Metro" – the intricate web of deadly terror tunnels buried deep beneath the Gaza strip runs for hundreds of miles. In the latest phase of the war on Hamas, an elite IDF unit is methodically destroying this underground network piece by piece.

Israel says the noose around Hamas in Gaza City is tightening.

Gen. Yaron Finkelman of IDF Southern Command told us, "Our activities are hitting at the heart of Hamas' capabilities. We eliminated dozens of commanders, we blocked many tunnels, and we are hitting the enemy hard."

Just 48 hours after breaching city walls, IDF soldiers like Sgt. Maj. Chaim Malespin began targeting the extensive network of terror tunnels deep beneath the surface.

"'Metro' is a nickname used by Israel of the underground Gaza. There's Gaza on top and there's Gaza underground," Malespin explained.

Malespin, who has served almost 20 years in the Israeli Army, was called up about a month ago to take part in the military operations in the Gaza Strip. Today, he is right in the thick of it, focusing on hundreds of those tunnels.

He's part of the IDF's elite Special Operations Yahalom unit that's in charge of demolishing Hamas' tunnel networks.

"Gaza underground is 500 kilometers worth of tunnels. What you really have is various kinds: You've got the attack tunnels, then you have tunnels for supplies, for weapons, for command centers. Then you have where you actually move major equipment through. Then you have small tunnels (shows with hands) just as wide as I can stretch my hands, like this wide, where you just run troops through," he explained.

The IDF has released several videos showing its troops blowing up tunnel entrances and shafts. Many are located near hospitals, children's amusement parks, apartment buildings, and other civilian areas. 

"The route passed through a residential neighborhood, through civilian houses, right through the living room of a house," an IDF soldier explained while showing one of the tunnels.

Each tunnel discovery, some located near mosques, schools, and churches, has been chock-full with weapons like mortars, guns, grenades, RPGs, mines and more.

"Now all the systems aren't just a straight line. You have curves. You have secret rooms, secret doors, you have so many things that you just have to be careful," Malespin said.

A tunnel map shows the highest concentration of terror tunnels in the north and south with a few in the middle of the Gaza Strip.

Now as IDF forces push deeper into the city, Malespin, an Israeli-American Christian, is asking people around the world to continue praying for their military operations.

"Pray that we'll have that supernatural wisdom to know where are these tunnels where is the threat going to come from and they are tricky, they are tricky people, Hamas. They are using trickery sometimes. It's not like fighting guerilla warfare. They are like guerilla warfare times 2.0," he said.