Chandler Zolan
Tunnel construction in conflict zones presents a critical security challenge, particularly in regions where underground passageways are exploited for smuggling, terrorism, and circumventing border controls. These tunnels undermine national security, threaten infrastructure stability, and complicate urban planning efforts, making their detection and prevention a priority for both military and civilian authorities. Nowhere is this issue more pronounced than in Israel, where subterranean networks along the Gaza and Lebanese borders have been used for arms smuggling, surprise attacks, and the holding and slaughtering of hostages.
Case Study: Israel’s Anti-Tunnel Strategies
The Gaza Strip hosts an extensive and complex network of tunnels developed primarily by Hamas and other Palestinian factions. This subterranean infrastructure serves multiple strategic purposes, including military operations, smuggling, and concealment. The earliest tunnels were primarily smuggling tunnels connecting Gaza to Egypt in the early 1980s. These were hand-dug and used for moving consumer goods, fuel, and small arms. Tunnels soon became primarily for the transport of weapons and launching attacks. In 2006, Hamas used tunnels to infiltrate Israel and capture Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, as well as killing two others, which significantly raised Israeli concerns about underground threats. Gilad Shalit was kept as a hostage for more than five years as a result, used as leverage to free over 1,000 people convicted of terror offenses and murder, including the most senior Hamas leadership.
This success led Palestinians to recognize the potential of tunnelling, and they developed extensive military tunnels, some stretching beyond Gaza into Israel and others into Egypt. They also had a significant network within Gaza itself, allowing terrorists to move underground, shielded by the civilian populations above them. This system became known as the Gaza Metro. During 2014’s Operation Protective Edge , the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) discovered over 100 kilometers of tunnels, with about one-third extending into Israeli territory. These tunnels featured multiple entry and exit points, were reinforced with concrete, and equipped with electricity, ventilation systems and communication lines. The IDF deployed troops into the tunnels to clear them of people, then had engineers inspect and map the tunnels for destruction, either by flooding or high precision strike. Egypt was also concerned during the Sinai insurgency, when ISIS-affiliated groups like Ansar Beit al-Maqdis declared a caliphate in the Sinai Peninsula, smuggling weapons, fighters, and supplies through tunnels from Gaza.
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