Hamas 'cements' it's future: prepares for confrontation

Hamas Building Underground City in Gaza -Amir Rappaport

There are few high-rise building sites in Gaza these days, but the demand for cement is huge. Copying Hizbullah in Lebanon, Hamas is building enormous underground installations - ammunition bunkers, tunnels, and command posts.

Responding to intelligence reports, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai has reduced the flow of cement from Israel to Gaza and is weighing a total halt.

Security officials say Hamas is building tunnels beneath the centers of major cities to enable freedom of movement for its forces should the IDF enter. In addition, outside the cities, Hamas is constructing tunnels beneath the major entry roads into Gaza, to be filled with explosives and then detonated beneath IDF convoys. The underground construction also includes hundreds of Kassam and Katyusha rocket launching positions that are protected from air attack.
(Maariv-24Oct08-Hebrew)