Why did Gaza’s tunnel network make it difficult to locate hostages and fighters during the Israel-Hamas War?

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The tunnel network in the Gaza Strip—an intricate system spanning hundreds of miles—significantly complicated military operations during the Israel-Hamas War. These subterranean passages, originally constructed for smuggling and conducting raids, created substantial challenges for the Israel Defense Forces in several ways:1

Operational Risk: Conducting military activity within the tunnels posed extreme dangers to all individuals inside, including Israeli troops and the hostages potentially held within the network.1
Civilian Impact: The infrastructure made it difficult to target militants and their weapons caches without incurring high civilian costs, as the tunnels are deeply integrated into the territory's landscape.1

The complexity of this environment hindered efforts to locate hostages and neutralize combatants, as the subterranean web provided a concealed space that was both difficult to navigate and hazardous to dismantle.1