An article run by Foreign Policy said “the tunnels have unsettled the [Israeli] forces, caused significant casualties, delayed the end of the war, and made victory less certain.”

It added that the tunnels’ network is “a crucial part of the military infrastructure” of the Hamas resistance movement, adding that the Israeli attempts to destroy it have been “a painstakingly slow and cumbersome” process.

Despite Israel’s possession of “the most advanced military capabilities in the detection, mapping, neutralization, and destruction of tunnels”, the article said, the regime has so far failed to either “deter Hamas from digging” or “lessen the challenge of fighting in a subterranean environment.”

According to Foreign Policy, even “the most specialized units” of the Israeli military have “suffered losses because of booby-trapped tunnel entrances.”

The US magazine said the tunnels’ networks have become “deeper and more hardened”, describing the resistance group’s “survival underground for this long as unprecedented.”

“Hamas’ growing reliance on the tunnels and its elaborate construction effort have paid off. Never in the history of tunnel warfare has a defender been able to spend months in such confined spaces. The digging itself, the innovative ways Hamas has made use of the tunnels, and the group’s survival underground for this long have been unprecedented.”

The article ruled out that Israel can score any victory in the current war as “it has become clear that Israel cannot possibly detect or map the entirety of Hamas’ tunnel network.”

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 22,853 Palestinians and injured more than 58,416 others.

Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble in Gaza, which is under “complete siege” by Israel.