Gaza, a narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean coast, is home to over 2 million people. While its streets were once bustling with life, the ongoing conflict has left much of it in ruins. Yet, beneath this devastation lies a vast network of tunnels, more extensive than even London's underground system. These tunnels serve as a critical asset for Hamas, enabling them to smuggle weapons and orchestrate attacks against Israel. But how did these tunnels evolve from a simple lifeline for families into a sophisticated military infrastructure?

Original intentions

The origins of Gaza's tunnel network can be traced back to the late 1970s when the border between Israel and Egypt was redrawn, dividing the city of Rafah. This abrupt division separated families who had lived side by side for generations. In response, residents began to dig rudimentary tunnels to reconnect with their loved ones, allowing for clandestine visits across the border.

Initially, these tunnels were modest, simple passageways that provided a means of connection and trade. They became vital in the face of severe shortages of essential goods caused by blockades imposed by both Israel and Egypt. As smugglers recognized the potential for profit, the tunnels transformed into lucrative underground trade routes, facilitating the movement of everything from car parts to gasoline. For many Gazans, these tunnels were a lifeline, described by one Palestinian as "the lungs through which Gaza breathed."

The shift: Tunnels as military assets

However, the landscape changed dramatically during the First Intifada in 1987. As tensions escalated between Israelis and Palestinians, the tunnels became increasingly utilized for military purposes. They allowed armed groups to smuggle weapons into Gaza, turning a once-peaceful network into a pipeline for conflict. Despite efforts by Israeli authorities to dismantle the tunnels, their existence only proliferated.

By the time the Second Intifada erupted in 2000, the tunnels had evolved into a crucial component of Gaza's military strategy. Hamas and other factions used them not only for smuggling but also for launching attacks against Israeli targets. The Israeli government responded with military operations aimed at destroying these tunnels, but often at a high cost to civilian lives and infrastructure.

Hamas' expansion

In 2005, Israel withdrew from Gaza, hoping that this would ease tensions. Instead, it allowed Hamas to expand its tunnel operations without oversight. By 2007, after Hamas took control of Gaza, they redirected vast resources into building a comprehensive network of tunnels, some going over 20 stories deep. While these tunnels continued to serve practical purposes like delivering food and medicine, they also became a sophisticated military base.

Hamas invested heavily in the construction of these tunnels, with estimates suggesting that nearly 3.6 billion shekel (1 billion USD) was spent on expanding the network. This was done at the expense of the very civilians Hamas claimed to protect. Essential materials meant for rebuilding homes and schools were instead diverted underground, leading to significant humanitarian issues.

The financial backing for the tunnels raises serious questions. Much of the funding has come from international aid meant for humanitarian purposes. Hamas has been known to siphon off construction materials intended for civilian projects, using these resources to bolster their military capabilities instead. This diversion has left ordinary Gazans without basic necessities, while Hamas has built an expansive underground military infrastructure.

Israel and Egypt's ongoing efforts

Recognizing the existential threat posed by the tunnels, Israel and Egypt have continually attempted to neutralize them. In 2014, during a major military campaign, Israel destroyed over 30 tunnels, while Egypt flooded many of the tunnels along its border with seawater. Despite these efforts, the tunnel network has proven resilient, with Hamas adapting by constructing deeper and more fortified tunnels.

Israeli engineers have developed advanced detection systems, but the complexity of the tunnels remains a significant challenge. As of 2021, reports indicated that while Israel claimed to have destroyed significant portions of the tunnel network, Hamas asserted that much of it remained intact, indicating a cat-and-mouse game between the two sides.

Tunnels today

Today, Gaza's tunnel network is not just a means of smuggling; it serves as a fully operational military base. These tunnels are equipped with communication systems, storage facilities for weapons, and areas for training. Hamas can move troops and supplies underground, avoiding detection from Israeli airstrikes. The tunnels' depth and construction make it incredibly difficult for Israeli forces to target Hamas effectively.

Moreover, the tunnels provide a strategic advantage, allowing Hamas to operate in secrecy. This concealment has thwarted many of Israel's military efforts, as the tunnels can absorb the impact of airstrikes, rendering surface attacks largely ineffective.

One of the most troubling aspects of the tunnel network is how Hamas uses civilians as human shields. The tunnels are often built beneath schools, hospitals, and homes, placing non-combatants directly in the line of fire during Israeli airstrikes. This tactic has drawn international condemnation, complicating the narrative around civilian casualties in the conflict.

While the international community often criticizes Israel for its military actions, it frequently overlooks Hamas's strategy of placing its military infrastructure amidst civilian populations. This creates a dire situation where Israel is left with the morally challenging decision of whether to target Hamas' infrastructure, risking civilian lives, or to refrain and allow Hamas to operate unhindered.

The conflict in Gaza represents a new era of warfare, where traditional military tactics are challenged by the complexities of urban and subterranean environments. Israeli forces face a multifaceted threat, with Hamas using its tunnel network to launch surprise attacks and evade capture. This has prolonged the conflict and created a cycle of violence that is difficult to break.

As the war rages on, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to deepen. Civilians are caught in the crossfire, facing shortages of food, water, and medical supplies. The international community watches closely, with many calling for a ceasefire, yet the underlying issues of governance, military strategy, and humanitarian needs remain unresolved.

The post Web of war: Inside Gaza's tunnels appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

A new report released on Thursday by the Alma Center, which researches security challenges to Israel from Lebanon and Syria, exposed what it described as a large-scale inter-regional Hezbollah tunnel system in different parts of Lebanon. The tunnel system is designed to move personnel and weapons around and out of the sight of the Israel Defense Forces.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Some of the tunnels are large enough for pick-up trucks with multi-barrel rocket launchers – like the one used by Hezbollah to fire on Israel last week – to move dozens of kilometers underground, according to the report, meaning that the truck can fire on Israel, vanish into a tunnel and re-emerge dozens of kilometers away.

The network of tunnels could be connecting the Beirut area, Hezbollah's central headquarters, and the Beqaa area, Hezbollah's logistical operational rear base, to southern Lebanon, according to the report.

"In our estimation, the cumulative length of all the tunnels can reach up to hundreds of kilometers," it wrote. Like Hamas tunnels, the Lebanese tunnels contain underground command and control rooms, weapons and supply depots, field hospitals and shafts used to fire a wide range of rockets and missiles.

The shafts "open for a short period of time for the purpose of firing their armament and are then immediately shut closed for the purpose of reloading the hydraulic launcher with new ordinance," it added.

'This has been happening in Lebanon for a long time'

Maj. (res.) Tal Beeri, head of the research department at Alma, said the tunnel network in Lebanon is similar to the strategic network built by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, only larger.

"What we saw in Hamas in Gaza is a small example of what Hezbollah has in Lebanon," stated Beeri, who served for 20 years in the IDF's Military Intelligence Directorate.

"Hamas didn't invent tunnels," explained Beeri. "Usually, Hamas is the last in the food chain when it comes to new tools used by the radical axis. The discovery of the tunnel network in Gaza leads to the conclusion that this has been happening in Lebanon for a long time. The Iranians and North Koreans are mentors for both organizations. Hamas are the ones copying here. Hezbollah are usually the pioneers. So imagine what is happening in Lebanon now."

Regarding the Lebanese tunneling network project, said Beeri, "we assess that this began possibly before 2006, but there is no doubt that it gained significant momentum after that year."

The tunnel project is the result of close cooperation between North Korea, Iran, which paid for the project and supported it, and Hezbollah. The triangle of cooperation between these three entities goes back to the 1980s, added Beeri.

Since 2006, "North Korean advisors significantly assisted Hezbollah's tunnel project. Hezbollah, inspired and supported by the Iranians, saw North Korea as a professional authority on the subject of tunneling, based on the expansive North Korean experience that has accumulated in building tunnels for military use since the 1950s," the report stated.

In 2018, the IDF exposed six offensive Hezbollah cross-border tunnels excavated into Israeli territory. Their discovery spelled the end of the concept held by some in Israel that the challenge of breaking rocks in mountainous areas as in Lebanon was a serious barrier to Hezbollah tunnel building, said Beeri.

A second type of tunnel network, described by Beeri as local infrastructure tunnels, is located within and near the Shi'ite villages that act as Hezbollah's staging areas.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

But the report exposed a new, third type of tunnel, which it called "inter-regional tunnels of enormous magnitude, spanning at least tens of kilometers" across Lebanon.

'We connected eyewitness reports of the digging work'

"In 2008, we uncovered an indication from Christian Lebanese information source, describing a big project by Hezbollah in whole of areas of Southern Lebanon, which began east of Sidon," said Beeri.

He then described getting access to eyewitness accounts from local residents who were stopped by Hezbollah from entering certain areas. "They didn't understand why Hezbollah was stopping them. What they could see was what resembled industrial work, sand, digging, concrete in the area. But nothing was being built overground. They saw Iranians and foreign nationals that they later realized were North Koreans," said Beeri.

Later on, Alma got hold of a map of Southern Lebanon divided up into polygon shapes, and within them, circles. "We asked ourselves: 'Could this be some sort of sketch of a route of a military system? A tunnel system?' We connected the eyewitness reports of the digging work – the fortification work that could not be seen overground – and the map," said Beeri.

"According to the indications, Hezbollah carried out fortification work in those geographical areas using large quantities of construction materials, while the work was carried out by a Korean company under the supervision of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officer," according to the report.

The report named the North Korean company as the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID), while the actual construction was conducted by Hezbollah's Jihad Construction Foundation.

The Jihad Construction Foundation reportedly received assistance from companies that acted as civilian cover for the construction of the long tunnels. One of the suspected companies, said Beeri, is the "Beqaa for Construction and Contracting" company, which was set up in 2005 under the auspices of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and until 2013, headed Maj. Gen. Hassan Shateri, a senior IRGC officer who was mysteriously killed in Syria in 2013.

It is highly likely that Shateri was responsible for carrying out Hezbollah's tunneling project in Lebanon," said the report.

It sketched out the route of one tunnel, stretching 45 kilometers south of Beirut, east of Sidon, in an area of Southern Lebanon that Hezbollah describes as its "second line of defense" against a potential Israeli ground maneuver.

Ultimately, said Beeri, the tunnels enable the secretive movement of Hezbollah's forces and weapons.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

The post New report digs into Hezbollah's vast 'land of tunnels' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Like a well-kept secret, the cisterns of the Temple Mount are closed off to visitors and researchers. The Muslim Waqf has barred and padlocked them. In ancient times, the cisterns refreshed pilgrims who arrived at the Temple. A few originally functioned as shaft graves or quarries from which stones were carved to build the Temple. Only years later did they fill with water.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

According to calculations by archaeologists, to fill leather bags with 100 cubes (100,000 liters) of water and transport it from the Gihon Spring 800 meters (2,624 feet) to the small cistern on the Mount would have taken at least 1,300 trips by donkeys. But most of the cisterns on the Mount are considerably bigger, able to contain thousands of cubes of water, and the water flowed into them from a distance, mainly through ancient channels. Rainwater, which was absorbed by the ground of the Temple Mount, also helped fill the cisterns. Research points to the existence of 49 cisterns on the Mount, as well as 42 channels that carried water to them. Some also served as hiding places prior to the destruction of the Second Temple.

While the Temple has been destroyed, the cisterns remain, and can help tell its story and the story of its ruination, which we mark today, Tisha B'av. The vast majority appear to be empty. A few have been equipped with sensors and alarms to thwart any attempt to study them.

Even Israel's security forces can't approach most of the cisterns, and when they do, it is only in rare emergency situations. There was a plan by members of the outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement to refill the cisterns with water imported from Mecca to make the compound more sacred to Muslims has been thwarted.

Only by walking around the Mount is it possible to get a more tangible impression of the cisterns. For years, I would visit two of them. The first, which dates back to the First Temple, has been locked for 10 years and is not part of the guided tours of the area. Its entrance was uncovered in 2012, between paving stones of a Herodian-era drainage ditch that links Siloam Pool to the southern wall of the Temple Mount.

The walls of the large cistern are covered in yellowish-brown plaster characteristic of the First Temple Period. The discovery of the cistern challenged the established belief that in the First Temple era, Jerusalem's only water source has been the Gihon Spring. The cistern branches out toward the east toward the Temple Mount compound, near the location of the Museum of Islam. But that part is blocked, like the rest of the cisterns.

The other cistern I've visited lies a little more to the north and does not enter the Temple Mount. Archaeologist Eli Shukron, who discovered them both, thinks that it was a hiding place for a family that lived in the city 2,000 years ago, and that they ate their last meals there, fearing that the rebels would steal their food.

Josephus Flavius' book The Jewish War describes how in the weeks prior to the destruction of the Temple, the rebels would ambush the population of Jerusalem and murder and torture women, children, and the elderly as part of their great food theft. The finds at the bottom of the cistern correspond chillingly with Josephus Flavius' narrative. Pottery vessels containing traces of food were found there, along with a small clay lamp that would have provided only enough light to allow the family to see their food without being discovered.

A new book by journalist and Temple Mount researcher Arnon Segal, Habayit ("The Home"), attempts to create a "virtual" visit to the cisterns. Segal, who has been writing a weekly column about the Temple Mount in Makor Rishon for the last 10 years, devotes a sizable portion of his book to the Temple Mount cisterns.

His documentation goes back to the golden age of research on the cisterns in the 19th century.

Speaking to Israel Hayom, Segal explains that "Jerusalem was a weakened, sleepy city, far from the awareness of the world and the bloody conflicts that characterized the focus on it starting in the 20th century. In short – a paradise for the research pioneers. This is why most of the information about the cisterns we have in the 21st century is based, oddly, on the sketches of people in the 19th century, mainly the findings of Charles Warren and Conrad Schick, two of the most diligent mappers of that century."

But Warren and Schick weren't the only ones. Ermete Pierotti, an engineering officer in the Sardinian Army, who arrived in Jerusalem after being chosen to serve as a consultant on refurbishments to the Temple Mount, was another.

Pierotti was appointed city engineer by the Ottoman governor of the city, and since he handled the city's water systems, the mysteries of the Temple Mount were open to him.

Pierotti's encounter with the "Well of Souls" that was supposedly dug beneath the Dome of the Rock is one of his more intriguing, mainly because even now it is unclear whether or not that cistern exists, or was merely a legend.

Q: What is the Well of Souls?

Segal: "In the Foundation Stone, there is a cave carved out to which 14 steps lead down, and there is a large marble slab set on its floor that supposedly covers the cistern. Because according to Islamic tradition, the marble slab covers the opening to hell and the souls of the dead buried under it, it was called the 'Well of Souls.' The Muslims avoid opening it. The Muslim tradition about that cistern draws on the power of the Jewish tradition of the Foundation Stone, which midrashim say is the foundation of the world. Our sages see the Foundation Stone as a kind of stopper that closes the chasm underneath it, lest it come back and inundate the world like the ancient flood."

Q: And Pierotti went inside?

"Not even he was allowed to open the marble slab that seals the cistern. He got in through a side opening."

Q: And what did he find?

"Pierotti wrote that he found a large space, and if he was exact, this is of major significance, because the cave under the Dome of the rock is full of important Jewish history. According to the main approach by Jewish sages, which Maimonides among others espoused, in the time of the First Temple, the Ark of the Covenant was stored in a 'deep and twisting concealment' beneath the Holiest of Holies. According to tradition, as well as numerous researchers, the Holiest of Holies is located where the Dome of Rock is today.

"Unless he was making things up, Pierotti effectively identified the existence of a major underground space at the Well of Souls, a space that until then had been considered the stuff of legend."

Security officials took pictures

Twice in the past decade, the Well of Souls has made headlines. The first time, in the spring of 2015, was when the Waqf replaced the rugs at the Dome of the Rock and in the cave beneath the Foundation Stone. This exposed the floor of the structure that lies perpendicular to the location of the Temple, and it was photographed. One of the photographs shows the marble slab that might cover the opening to the Well of Souls.

The second time was in 2017, after the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement carried out a terrorist shooting at the Temple Mount compound that left two police officers dead. The police closed the area off and conducted careful sweeps to ensure that no other weapons were hidden on the Mount. A large contingent of police and Border Police raided the offices of Temple Mount employees, sent ropes down cisterns that hadn't been opened since the 19th century, and surveyed numerous structures.

Some of the cisterns were photographed, and security officials shared their documentation with the Israel Antiquities Authority. The Waqf claimed that forces had also searched the flood of the cave under the Dome of the Rock. Was the marble slab opened? No security officials are volunteering an answer. In any case, the Well of Souls is only one of the 49 cisterns research has identified on the Mount. Researcher Rivka Goren has identified four cisterns as primitive shaft graves, of the kind used to bury the dead until the end of the third millennium BCE, long before the Temple Mount was built.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

Another cistern, No. 8, known as the "Great Cistern," is the largest and can hold 12,000 cubic meters of water. It was documented and illustrated by William Simpson in 1872.

Segal: "Benjamin Mazar claimed that it was a cistern mentioned in Jewish sources that was used as a main water source by pilgrims in the days of the Temple. According to Mazar, the daughter of Nehunya, who was in charge of supplying water to pilgrims in the Second Temple Era, might have fallen into it."

Segal points out that Dutch archaeologist Leen Ritmeyer believes that the Great Cistern was also one of the sources of the stone used to build the Temple. "He thinks that most of the large cisterns on the Temple Mount started out as underground quarries, and only after the quarrying stopped were they plastered and used to collect water," he says.

Segal raises a few more interesting question about the cisterns: Is Cistern No. 5, at the south of the Mount, the cistern dug in the Second Temple Period that provided water to Ezra, as researcher Ben Zion Luria believed? The Mishneh says that the curtain that separates the "Holy" from the "Holiest of Holies" was submerged in this cistern, and Professor Joseph Patrich of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Institute of Archaeology thinks it provided water for the bath where the priests would wash the feet and hands of pilgrims.

Another intriguing one is No. 11, named after the Hellenistic Acra fortress, which Simon the Hasmonean destroyed. The Acra, hated by the Jews of Jerusalem, was designed to force them to worship pagan gods in the heart of the Temple. Researcher Joshua Schwartz was the first to link the Acra to the cistern, but it is not a certainty.

"Most Israelis," says Segal, "Know the Temple Mount as a place of tensions and conflict. They remember it exists only when the constant conflict that envelops it flares up. But the Temple Mount can be so much more than that, and tell a story that is far beyond the current conflict, a story that exposes the earliest roots of the Jewish people, and hope for its future."

The post 49 cisterns tell the story of the destruction of the Temple, and much more appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The political echelon expects the international community to begin pressuring Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire, the government said Sunday. 

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Egypt attempted to broker a ceasefire on Friday, but failed. An official involved in the talks told Israel Hayom that both sides rejected all proposals for a truce, especially Israel. According to the official, the IDF is intent on completing its operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and only then would be open to a ceasefire. 

As of Sunday afternoon, no country has pressured Israel to stop its operation in Gaza. In fact, many expressed full support for the country's right to defend itself. 

On Tuesday, European Union foreign ministers will hold urgent video talks on the escalating fighting between Israel and Hamas, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced on Twitter.

"In view of the ongoing escalation between Israel and Palestine and the unacceptable number of civilian casualties, I am convening an extraordinary VTC of the EU Foreign Ministers on Tuesday," Borrell said.

"We will coordinate and discuss how the EU can best contribute to end the current violence."

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday called on the UN Security Council to seek an early de-escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas, and blamed the U. for the council's lack of action so far.

"Regrettably, the council has so far failed to reach an agreement, with the United States standing on the opposite side of international justice," the state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted Wang as saying in a phone conversation Saturday with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

He expressed support for a two-state solution, and said China, which holds the Security Council presidency this month, expects all parties to speak with a unified voice when the council discusses the conflict later Sunday.

Wang said the Security Council should reconfirm a two-state solution and urge Palestinians and Israelis to resume talks on that basis as soon as possible.

On Saturday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US President Joe Biden by phone.

"The President reaffirmed his strong support for Israel's right to defend itself against rocket attacks from Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza. He condemned these indiscriminate attacks against towns and cities across Israel," the White House published in a statement afterward. 

Biden updated Netanyahu on high-level US engagement with regional partners on the issue. The US President also raised concerns about the safety of journalists and reinforced the need to ensure their protection, the statement said.

Also, Biden condemned intercommunal violence across Israel and commended the government's efforts to hold rioters accountable and establish order. The two agreed to be in touch in the days ahead.  

i24NEWS contributed to this report

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Determined to complete operation against Hamas targets, Israel rejects ceasefire proposals appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Through a perfectly executed use of misdirection, IDF air and ground forces destroyed – in less than an hour – Hamas' underground network of tunnels, known in Gaza as the "Metro." The IDF employed unusually heavy firepower that included combined, synchronized bombings by 160 aircraft and IDF artillery.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

It is still unclear how many terrorists were killed in the "Metro" bombing, but apart from eliminating terrorist operatives and attacking terrorist infrastructure, the offensive is a major moral blow to Hamas' military wing and its leader – Mohammed Deif. The Metro was effectively his life's work, and in the years since Operative Protective Edge in 2014, over $1 billion and massive manpower has been invested in it. All that has now been for nothing.

Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit

Hamas spearheaded the Metro project in conjunction with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist factions in Gaza. It is a snarl of tunnels dug on the outskirts of eastern Gaza City and the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The purpose of the network was to enable Hamas and PIJ terrorists to stop a ground incursion by IDF forces, as well as to allow those operatives freedom of movement without being tracked and targeted from the air.

But the tunnel network wasn't only intended to be used to stop a ground operation and to wage underground guerrilla warfare. Hamas dug the tunnels so it could abduct as many live or dead IDF troops as possible, to be used as bargaining chips later on. What's more, Hamas even managed to use the tunnels to penetrate Israeli territory to attack IDF bases and western Negev civilian communities near the border fence.

In spite of the unceasing rocket fire on southern Israel and Hamas' ability to withstand IAF strikes, we can definitely say that Hamas, the PIJ, and other Palestinian terrorist organizations in Gaza have sustained enormous blows both above and below ground in this past week of fighting. Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar has watched his work in recent years to address civilian issues through Egyptian-brokered talks with Israel go up in smoke during Operation Guardian of the Walls, as well as seeing Hamas' underground tunnel network – the jewel in its crown – be destroyed in under an hour.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post IDF has destroyed arch-terrorist Mohammed Deif's magnum opus appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The IDF said that the strikes targeted Hamas positions and underground infrastructure in Gaza.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Earlier Sunday, Israel decided to stop the movement of goods into Gaza as a way of pressuring Hamas to stop its rocket and arson attacks against the Israeli home front. In the past few days, Israel has even stopped shipments of fuel into Gaza, and the Israeli navy has stopped fishing activity off the Gazan coast.

Meanwhile, Egypt's delegation to the Gaza Strip, which has been trying to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas, announced Sunday that it would not be visiting Gaza until the situation calmed down.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post IDF strikes Hamas positions after another day of arson terrorism appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

At approximately 2 a.m., a contingent of forces from the Karakal Battalion received a report about a company commander who had sustained wounds to his hand. Arab media outlets reported that the bullet was fired during clashes between the Egyptian military and armed smugglers.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Al-Arabiyya quoted sources in the Egyptian defense establishment in Sinai who said that smugglers had tried to attack Egyptian forces near the border, and that Egypt's military has recently been working to locate and destroy smuggling tunnels in the area where the borders of Sinai, the Gaza Strip, and Israel converge.

The incident is under investigation, and as of Tuesday morning, the IDF believed that the shot had been fired in error.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post IDF officer hit by shrapnel in overnight incident on Egyptian border appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

"We have advanced technology so much that I can strike anybody, anywhere, at any time," the urban warfare expert warns in a conversation with Israel Hayom, adding that such advanced capabilities come with a disadvantage – "combat has been driven underground, allowing the enemy to hide."

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Earlier this month, experts in various aspects of underground warfare gathered at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya for a conference titled "Subterranean Challenges in War and Peace," a joint initiative by the IDC, West Point, and the US Embassy in Israel. Experts on warfare and technology, as well as historians and geologists – all of whom deal with the volatile issue from their own perspectives – convened at what is believed to be the first official opportunity to exchange ideas to upgrade military doctrine on underground warfare.

Spencer, a retired major in the US infantry forces, served in the US Army for 25 years. His tours of duty included Iraq. For the past six years, he has headed West Point's urban warfare program, training future officers in a field that he believes is becoming the biggest challenge to militaries worldwide.

"Some people would argue that there has been a long history of urban warfare, since ancient times. I argue that that's not true. Militaries have always fought FOR cities, but not IN cities. They tried to avoid fighting in cities at all costs. In the last five to 10 years, every conflict has been in a city. You can't give me a reason why a future conflict won't be in a city," he says.

"Over 50% of the world's population lives in urban areas. But if you take a developed country, Europe, the United States, you're at 80-90%," Spencer observes.

Spencer has spent considerable time studying Israel's counterterror warfare, including during operations in the Gaza Strip.

"There is a little bit of information available about the lessons learned from Gaza, from Operation Protective Edge. I don't know if it's resonating with all militaries," he says.

According to Spencer, other militaries try and avoid underground warfare: "Bypass it, hope it won't happen." But Israel, he says, does not have that luxury.

Despite the enormous rise in the number of battles fought in urban settings, and the fact that urban warfare is part of the future, Spencer says that the world isn't devoting enough attention to the matter.

"How wide a view do you take of urban warfare? There's no course at West Point on urban warfare. We try to incorporate urban 'lessons,' and that's where lessons from Protective Edge might be incorporated, but not at the scale I think is necessary," he says.

That is why, Spencer says, the conference – and the international working group of underground warfare – was so important.

"There's nobody we could turn to more important than the Israeli military, the Israeli people, to understand how to fight tunnel warfare, from the strategic down to the tactical level. As an urban warfare expert, that's the most important thing to me. We have a problem training for urban warfare. Underground warfare? Forget it. But the Israeli military has lived with it every day of their lives for a long time. We're bringing people together so we can start setting up these lessons and sharing information."

Q: Would you like US officers or future officers to come here to Israel to study? To come see the tunnels, to see the work of our army?

"Yes, and I'd like to see attention raised to the problem … to show that this is a bigger problem than people might think. Of course, Israeli people know it's a problem."

Spencer notes that the world is largely unaware of the scope of the problem that tunnels in urban settings present. "There were 45 tunnel bombs exploded from 2014-2015 in Syria and Iraq. I was last in Iraq in 2008, and there was nothing. There was 'underground,' but [it was] not being used as a method of warfare as it is now."

"If I were in Iraq today, the threat from underground is 20-fold what it was when I was there. It's incredible."

Spencer says that "On all my tours in Iraq, I never looked down. You go to Iraq, Syria [today], you'd better be looking down, because that's a significant threat."

Q: Do the terrorist organizations talk to each other? Does Hamas talk to Hezbollah?

"Absolutely. That diffusion of information, how to do these things, went straight from Israel into Syria. We saw an explosion in tunnels. The passing of information is one of the urban problems – these terrorist organizations start passing [information about] what works to each other."

Conference host Dr. Daphne Richemond-Barak, an internationally known researcher on tunnel warfare who this year published a book on the subject, Underground Warfare, agrees with Spencer.

"You can never feel safe. You can never feel secure in any kind of geographical perimeter, because in the end … it can pop up at any time. [The enemy] can pop up behind you or next to you or on you," she says.

Richemond-Barak observes that while there are not many downsides to military superiority, such as that enjoyed by the US or Israel, there is one, and it's a big one.

"When you go for the high-tech, you have to prepare for the low tech. It doesn't mean it's going to be an existential threat to you, but if you don't prepare for it, it will take you by surprise. In the Israeli context, it's also explosive balloons and kites. That's low tech, and it's also a disruption. It's a consequence to military superiority.

"We in Israel think that the tunnel issue is an Israeli issue. But the conference demonstrates that this is NOT an Israeli issue. It's everywhere – in Mali, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Syria. It could come to Europe, as well," she observes. This is why, she argues, it is so vital to bring global attention to the issue of underground warfare as a global threat.

Moreover, Richemond-Barak thinks that Israel can learn from other countries and cites a new underground warfare doctrine published in November by the US military as something Israel should study.

"This is the first time something so comprehensive and not classified has been published about preparation, training, etc. Israel also recently put out a maneuver doctrine that the US can learn from, as well," she says.

Richemond-Barak sees underground warfare as a "great equalizer." Fighting in tunnels "neutralizes the asymmetry between belligerents in a military conflict," she says, which is why it is necessary for militaries to combine their existing knowledge of urban warfare with an underground warfare doctrine and use the two as a tool of war against the enemy.

Spencer adds that in any city in the world, there is a vast underground network that the enemy will use for one purpose or another.

Spencer thinks it's "ridiculous" how little information is available on underground warfare. "The current doctrines say the underground is 'high risk' – avoid it at all costs. That is not the world we live in."

The post 'The world doesn't realize the extent of the tunnel threat' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Maj. Gen. Mickey Edelstein, who heads the military's counter-tunnel warfare development efforts, further said that some of the tactics already developed for underground warfare will soon become obsolete.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Edelstein was speaking at a symposium titled "Subterranean Challenges in War and Peace," hosted by the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in collaboration with the United States Military Academy of West Point and the US Embassy in Israel.

"There is a need to change many of the basic assumptions. The enemy wants to force us to operate above and below ground at the same time, in order to exhaust us and lead to further attacks against civilians," he said.

Edelstein noted that with respect to urban warfare, buildings that have been cleared of terrorists could still pose a risk due to tunnels.

"If in the past there was the question of whether we could counter the terror tunnels without entering them – we won't have this privilege in the future. There is a 100% chance that we will face the challenge of the tunnels in Gaza and in Lebanon."

He further noted that the threat posed by terror tunnels in the northern sector is unequivocal.

"Every village has tunnels," he said, adding that the IDF is sparing no effort to meet this challenge.

"Tunnel warfare reduced nearly all the advantaged you have when fighting above ground to almost zero, be it with respect to firepower, engaging the enemy, and the troops' movement," he explained.

"One of the problems is that we don't have the intelligence capability to discern the location of each and every tunnel. No one unit can do handle locating a tunnel and neutralize it – we need an entire strategic lineup for that," he said.

Satellite images released last week by ImageSat International showed that construction of an underground storage tunnel for missiles is underway at a Shiite militia base in northeastern Syria that was built by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

According to the images, the tunnel is being dug near a crossing over the Syria-Iraq border.

The Imam Ali base, where the tunnel is under construction, is the crown jewel of Iran's presence in Syria.

It allows access to a land corridor that extends from Iraq to Iran, eliminating the need for IRGC personnel to maintain air bases, which are vulnerable to Israeli strikes.

The tunnel exposed on Tuesday proves that the base is designed to accommodate advanced weapon systems that the Iranians could use in a future conflict with Israel.

The post IDF official warns terror tunnels under northern border pose 'major threat' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

According to the images, the tunnel is being dug near a crossing over the Syria-Iraq border.
The Imam Ali base, where the tunnel is under construction, is the crown jewel of Iran's presence in Syria.

It allows access to a land corridor that extends from Iraq to Iran, eliminating the need for IRGC personnel to maintain air bases, which are vulnerable to Israeli strikes.

The tunnel exposed on Tuesday proves that the base is designed to accommodate advanced weapon systems that the Iranians could use in a future conflict with Israel.

Recent foreign news reports claimed that Iranian cargo planes have landed at another base in Syria, T-4. Some officials believe that those aircraft were carrying weapons shipments Tehran had deployed to the IRGC's elite Quds Force.

The post Satellite photos show Iran building tunnels in Syria to store missiles appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.