A former senior commander in the IDF’s Combat Engineering Corps warns that Israel will not find all of the cross-border tunnels in Gaza during this operation. And, he tells ToI’s military correspondent Mitch Ginsburg, if Hamas is able to secure ceasefire terms that give it sufficient room to do so, it will commence digging anew after this conflict is over.
One of three tunnels that were discovered by soldiers from the Nahal Brigade in the Gaza Strip on July 19, 2014 Photo credit: IDF Spokesperson/Flash90)
“We won’t find all of them,” said Col. (res) Atai Shelach, former commander of the elite Yahalom unit that tackles the tunnels, “and the moment we leave they will start digging again.”
Writes Ginsburg: “The Israeli army has found more than 30 tunnels that cross underground from Gaza to Israel. The channels are often wider than a man’s shoulders and close to six feet high; they are supported with hundreds of tons of concrete arches and frequently reach a maximum depth of 20 meters below ground level. Most of the tunnels are well lit and properly ventilated. Soldiers on the ground in Gaza have reported finding explosives and arms stashed within the tunnels and, on several occasions after thwarting underground infiltration attempts, have found Hamas operatives armed with zip ties and narcotic drugs meant to facilitate a kidnapping.”
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Sunday, July 27, 2014
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