BICOM

The Israeli army yesterday said that it will conduct an investigation to determine whether attack tunnels from the Gaza Strip are being dug beneath Kibbutz Nirim, which is situated close to the Gaza border.

The threat posed by a sophisticated network of tunnels developed by Hamas was a major focus of last summer’s Operation Protective Edge. Not only did the tunnels enable Hamas leaders and operatives to evade capture, but they were a launching pad for deadly attacks inside Israel. Eleven Israeli soldiers died during the conflict in Israeli territory, having been ambushed by gunmen emerging from the tunnels, which also threatened civilians in Israel’s Gaza border communities.

Residents of Kibbutz Nirim have complained for some time that they can hear the noise of underground digging at night. Two months ago, they contacted a private company to carry out a survey, which concluded with 70 per cent certainty that an underground tunnel is indeed being constructed. Having been presented with the results, the IDF will now carry out its own investigation in the coming days and said “Any information the army gathers will be brought to the public.”

Reflecting a new determination to eradicate the threat of tunnels, Israel’s Defence Ministry announced last month that it will soon deploy a tunnel-detection system along the the Gaza border after successful testing of the system. Several weeks ago, analyst Avi Issacharoff reported in the Times of Israel that Hamas is using heavy machinery and engineering tools to speed up the tunnel-building process. The Telegraph said last month that Iran had transferred millions of pounds to enable Hamas to rebuild its underground network and replenish its rocket supplies. Frequent test firing from Gaza into the Mediterranean Sea has been reported.

Meanwhile, reports from inside the Gaza Strip suggest that Hamas has launched a crackdown on Salafist Islamist groups, which this week bombed Hamas’ Gaza security headquarters, following several similar recent blasts. The Salafists are reportedly demanding that Hamas release their imprisoned members.