Senior Israeli military officials divided over new Gaza ‘anti-tunnel’ wall

As the Ministry of Defence’s bid for the project of constructing reinforced concrete walls along the Gaza Strip approaches its deadline, Walla! News has learned that senior officers argue that the project’s cost – around one billion shekels ($0.37 billion) – will not allow for sufficient protection.

As the tender published by the Ministry of Defence for the mega-project intended to cope with the threat of tunnels from the Gaza Strip approaches a decision, Walla! News has been informed of a professional dispute as to the decision on the project, among top military figures, with senior officers recommending the Israeli government consider targeted operations inside the Gaza Strip for the location and destruction of tunnels.

Israel currently operates inside its own territory to locate tunnels, while also conducting operations west of the Gaza border fence [i.e. inside Gaza] from time to time. This follows an arrangement between Israel and the Hamas government, achieved with Egyptian mediation following “Operation Protective Edge”. At the same time, the Israeli government has informed the heads of the security establishment that there would be no monetary restrictions on any solution to the tunnel problem. Since “Operation Protective Edge”, the government has transferred a budget of hundreds of millions of shekels for purchasing advanced technologies, for testing, for engineering operations – and for the new mega-project, whose purpose is the construction of several slurry walls at some hot-spots along the border.

Military officials have argued that given the project’s cost, which estimates say would start at hundreds of millions of shekels and may rapidly exceed one billion, and considering the fact that the project does not provide hermetic sealing of the border, targeted operations would be preferable. In addition, security officials have explained that the tunnels located since the operation, around two years ago, are not new ones, but extensions of tunnels located by Israeli forces during the operation, some of which had not been destroyed.

However, the Israeli government has decided on this matter, opting to promote the engineering project. The tender, which is confidential for the most part, allows for the admission of international companies with expertise in very deep underground engineering and digging, and the construction of thick concrete walls – works which have never been carried out on such a scale in Israel. So far, at least 20 companies have joined the contest, and the tender is supposed to end this week.

The slurry wall is an engineering method which involves deep digging and the construction of extra-thick concrete walls, tens of metres in width, to thwart Palestinian tunnel digging efforts. Furthermore, the installations which will be constructed are to be equipped with technology which could alert Israel as to drilling or digging operations. However, the digging work within the area of the Israeli army’s Gaza Division will compel the project managers to cope with very deep underground work.

In the past months, the Israeli army and the security establishment have been busy trying to locate offensive tunnels, in the shadow of growing threats along the Gaza Strip border – including fire by snipers and anti-tank squads. Last August, an unmanned military vehicle named Shomer Ha-gvulot (“Guardian of the Borders”), which operates monitoring cameras along the Gaza fence, was used for the first time. This novel means of surveillance is supposed to help locate infiltrators and terrorists attempting to enter Israeli territory via the fence, and even help identify explosive devices and tunnel openings.

Translated from Walla! News, “IDF heads opposed to walls against tunnels, preferring ground operations” 27 September 2016