Hadar Goldin’s Tunnel Revealed
The Rafah Deception: IDF Exposes 7 KM Terror Network Running Under UNRWA, Mosques, and Schools
The IDF uncovered a massive 7-kilometer, 25-meter-deep Hamas tunnel network in Southern Rafah, the same complex where Lt. Hadar Goldin was held, which runs directly beneath mosques, clinics, and UNRWA-affiliated schools.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have exposed one of the most extensive and complex underground terror routes discovered to date in the Gaza Strip: a massive, over 7-kilometer-long network beneath Southern Rafah. This route is confirmed to be the same tunnel where abducted IDF officer Lieutenant Hadar Goldin z"l was held by the Hamas terrorist organization.
The significant operation, led by the Southern Command and executed by the elite Yahalom Unit and Flotilla 13, revealed a subterranean route descending to a depth of approximately 25 meters. The sheer scale of the tunnel underscores the depth of Hamas's entrenchment beneath the civilian population.
Tunnel Runs Under Sensitive Civilian Sites
The route of the tunnel highlights Hamas's strategic deployment of its terror infrastructure beneath densely populated civilian areas. The vast underground network runs directly beneath a crowded residential neighborhood in Rafah, near the Philadelphi Route (the Gaza-Egypt border), and extends under a multitude of highly sensitive civilian structures.
The path of the tunnel includes:
Inside the sprawling tunnel system, forces uncovered approximately 80 hideouts and control rooms. These rooms were actively used by senior Hamas terrorist commanders for various military activities, including weapons storage, extended stays, and planning terrorist operations against Israeli forces.
Among the senior Hamas terrorist commanders who utilized the tunnel network for command and control was the Rafah Brigade Commander, the terrorist Mohammed Shabana.
The depth and complexity of the tunnel, containing extensive living quarters and command facilities, prove that Hamas was utilizing the subterranean space not merely for transport but as an operational and residential center for its top military leaders, exploiting the civilian structures above as human shields.
IDF fighters from the 162nd Division and the Gaza Division (143) provided essential security coverage in the immediate area, enabling the specialist units to operate safely within the tunnel structure. The uncovering of this route, used to hold an abducted soldier for years, demonstrates the persistent, massive investment Hamas has made in its underground terror infrastructure at the expense of its own civilian population's well-being.