Israel will not find all of the cross-border tunnels in Gaza during this =

operation. And 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, a former senior commander in the IDF=92s Combat Engineering Corps =

said Sunday.
By Mitch Ginsburg The Times of Israel July 27, 2014, 7:25 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-will-restart-tunneling-as-soon-as-we-lea=
ve-idf-officer-says/

=93We won=92t find all of them,=94 said Col. (res) Atai Shelach, former com=
mander =

of the elite Yahalom unit that tackles the tunnels, =93and the moment we =

leave. they will start digging again.=94

The Israeli army has found more than 30 tunnels that cross underground from =

Gaza to Israel. The channels are often wider than a man=92s shoulders and =

close to six feet high; they are supported with hundreds of tons of concret=
e =

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 drug=
s =

meant to facilitate a kidnapping.

Security sources assert that the tunnels were built for a mega-attack to be =

carried out during the Jewish New Year, in September, the Israeli news site =

NRG reported on Friday. The attack was to include 200 terrorists =

simultaneously surging across the border and seizing control of six civilia=
n =

communities in the western Negev, NRG reported.

Six IDF soldiers have been killed by Hamas gunmen emerging from the tunnels =

into Israel in the course of Operation Protective Edge; some 20 Hamas =

infiltrators have been killed in five such attacks.

Shelach said in a conference call arranged by The Israel Project that =

tunnels have been in Gaza for two decades and that they are =93actually par=
t =

of the culture.=94 He said that at first the tunnels were used primarily fo=
r =

smuggling and then for an economic industry dominated by several families. =

Only later did the tunneling intensify, at first against Israeli troops =

inside Gaza, and, after the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, against =

troops on the Israeli side of the border.

In June 2006 Corporal Gilad Shalit, a soldier in the armored corps, was =

kidnapped from a tank in an ambush launched from a cross-border tunnel. =

Shelach said Israel=92s intelligence has known about the tunnels for a long =

time, including during Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012, when =

the government opted for a ceasefire after eight days of aerial warfare =

rather than address the tunnel threat.

IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner recently described the network of =

defensive and offensive underground tunnels in Gaza as akin to arteries and =

veins, crossing the length of the Strip and feeding one another.

Shelach put the total number of tunnels in Gaza at =93between hundreds and =

thousands.=94

He said military intelligence has provided =93a very good picture=94 of the =

extent and location of the tunnels prior to this operation and that Hamas =

operatives taken captive, =93if I may say, are answering questions.=94

He said completing the destruction of the several dozen tunnels crossing =

into, or toward, Israel was =93just a matter of time=94 and that there was =
=93no =

other obstacle.=94

The work is dangerous when performed in a combat zone, but can be done from =

the outside of the tunnel, drilling holes into the surface with heavy =

machinery and inserting the explosives into the tunnel.

Hamas, he noted, pays families near the border =93to hire=94 a room in thei=
r =

homes from which operatives then begin carefully digging a tunnel shaft =

within the house. =93One of their tools,=94 he said, =93is to use the popul=
ation =

for their own purposes.=94 =

________________________________________
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