'IDF will struggle to destroy tunnels'
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 2, 2009
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American engineers who serve as consultants for the Egyptian military have
recently informed Israel that Hamas has succeeded in digging 60-meter deep
smuggling tunnels to avoid detection and destruction by the IDF, defense
officials said on Thursday.
The American engineers, deployed as consultants along the Philadelphi
Corridor in Egyptian Rafah, have been using technology that can detect
seismic movements to uncover tunnels. But it is more difficult to detect
them once they have reached the 60-meter depth, the engineers told their
Israeli counterparts.

According to IDF assessments, Hamas now has several hundred active tunnels
under the Philadelphi Corridor, even though close to 300 were reportedly
bombed by the Israel Air Force during Operation Cast Lead in December and
January.

Digging to the new depths required special techniques, one official said.

"The Palestinians are experts at digging tunnels," the official said. "They
reach 60 meters, pump out the groundwater, and pump in air so they can
continue digging."

Defense officials said that since Cast Lead, Cairo had increased its efforts
to uncover and destroy smuggling tunnels. The Egyptian efforts have also
focused on stopping weapons before they reach the Philadelphi Corridor and
as they make their way to the border with Sinai.

A senior IDF officer said the army was reassessing the effectiveness of
bombing tunnels from the air. "We found that it takes the Palestinians just
a few days to rebuild the tunnels after we bomb them," the officer said.

According to a recent report on Al-Arabiya TV, the tunnel-smuggling industry
in Gaza is valued at $200 million annually, yielding huge profits for the
Palestinian and Egyptian owners of the tunnels. There are 800 tunnels along
the Gaza-Egyptian border, Al-Arabiya said.

"These tunnels are the lifeline of the Gaza Strip. This is the only place
where you don't feel you are in a besieged city. All products are
available - electronic appliances, flour, sugar and all other food
products - and even diapers and Viagra pills," according to a transcript of
the TV report provided by MEMRI: The Middle East Media Research Institute.

In related news, either a 17-year-old Palestinian woman or a three-year-old
girl was killed in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday evening, according to
conflicting Hamas sources. Eleven Palestinians were wounded in the incident.

On Friday morning, the military issued a statement saying that according to
the latest assessments, the girl may have been killed by IDF fire, and not
by Palestinian mortar fire as was initially stated.

The military said Nahal Brigade troops had responded with gunfire and mortar
shells after they came under fire from terrorists near the Nahal Oz
crossing, but did not use tanks. It said mortar shells fired by the soldiers
landed in open areas in the Gaza Strip.

The army added that all of the mortar shells fired by the Palestinians
landed inside the Strip.

Palestinian Health Ministry official Dr. Moaiya Hassanain said the person
killed was a 17-year-old woman, and one of the people wounded was a
three-year-old girl.

Shortly after the event took place, Hamas announced that the person killed
was actually a three-year-old girl.

The IDF said it is continuing the investigation into the incident.