JERUSALEM—Residents of Israeli villages abutting the Gaza Strip have in recent weeks reported hearing the sounds of underground digging and drilling at night, apparently confirming Hamas’ claims that they have resumed digging attack tunnels into Israel like those destroyed during the war in Gaza two years ago.
But, according to the daily newspaper Yediot Achronot, residents of Gaza are also hearing strange noises coming from the Israeli side of the border—innovative devices being planted underground that may permit Israel not only to monitor ongoing tunneling activity in the Gaza Strip but to pinpoint existing tunnels.
Washington has agreed to invest $120 million in the program, matching the investment of the Israeli government, the newspaper reported Tuesday.
Hamas’ elaborate tunneling beneath Gaza is regarded by the organization as a prime strategic asset, alongside its rocket arsenal. During the war in the summer of 2014, Hamas fighters emerged on several occasions from tunnels on the Israeli side of the border fence, usually wearing Israeli army uniforms, and succeeded in killing several soldiers. Although suffering a few casualties, most succeeded in getting back to Gaza.
The penetrations caused extreme anxiety among Israeli border residents, some of whom moved deeper into Israel after the war. Hamas, however, did not succeed in its primary objective—bringing back hostages, particularly civilian hostages, who could be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. In their first operational use of a tunnel into Israel in 2006, Hamas succeeded in capturing an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, who was exchanged five years later for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
With parts of Gaza still lying in ruins from the 2014 war and the economic situation in the strip catastrophic, a successful penetration of Israel would be a major morale booster in Gaza. Hamas announced last week that it has rehabilitated cross-border tunnels destroyed by Israel in the war. The deputy leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, said at a rally that the organization "is in a state of ongoing preparation underground, above ground, on land and sea." Haniyeh said that the combined length of Hamas’ tunnels was greater than that of Vietcong tunnels in the Vietnam War. Apart from attack tunnels into Israel, Hamas has extensive tunnels within Gaza that permit its men to move from place to place undetected by Israeli drones.
Israeli security forces have made a point of checking out all reports of underground noises in the border villages, even digging deep shafts, but have not yet found any tunnels. "The fear among everyone here is constant," Nissim Hakmon of Pri Gan village told Reuters. "I’ve heard the sound of a hammer and chisel. We’re stressed out."
After the 2014 war, army engineers began an intensive search for new technologies that would permit detection of digging activity as well as of existing tunnels in Gaza’s sandy soil. Although promising avenues were discovered, according to the Israeli media, budgetary problems were a restraining factor. American participation, both technologically and financially, has accelerated the program. Hamas has dug its tunnels deep underground in order to escape detection by any known technology but the program being developed on the Israeli side, according to Yediot Achronot, would be able to track deep tunnels as well.
According to some Israeli analysts, Hamas may be tempted to use its cross-border tunnels before Israel comes up with an anti-tunnel solution. If Israel learns their precise location, they could easily be destroyed by bombing.
In recent days, at least seven Hamas militants have died in tunnel cave-ins after heavy rains.