The Tunnels Threats That Israel Saw First

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During Operation Protective Edge in 2014, the Israeli military uncovered and destroyed 32 cross-border tunnels beneath Gaza, reaching into Israeli territory. Many of them, according to the IDF, began inside homes and mosques in Gaza and ended inside or on the edge of Israeli border towns.

In just a handful of tunnel attacks over the course of that summer, Palestinian militants managed to kill 11 Israeli soldiers and capture the bodies of several soldiers in the hope of arranging a future prisoner exchange, in which Israel would trade Palestinian prisoners for the return of soldiers’ bodies.

But Israel is leaving nothing to chance. After cries were sounded in Israel alerting on the threat these tunnels pose, mostly to Israeli civilians on border towns, reports confirmed that Israeli engineers have been working tirelessly even since before Operation Protective Edge to develop what’s being called the “Underground Iron Dome” — a system that could detect and destroy cross-border tunnels. The Israeli government has reportedly spent more than $250 million since 2004 in its efforts to thwart tunnel construction under the Gaza border.

This technology hit world headlines upon the announcement that the IDF uncovered a two-kilometer-long, concrete-lined tunnel on its Gaza border.

According to reports,  some 100 companies – including Iron Dome’s developers, Elbit Systems and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems — are involved in assembling this groundbreaking system. Military units, Shin Bet security agency officers, civilian engineers, infrastructure contractors and tunnel construction experts are also credited with helping.

The details about how the anti-tunnel technology works are still unconfirmed. But according to Israeli media, dozens of Israeli-developed sensors gather information from the field and transmit it to a control system for analysis using advanced algorithms. The system, says the report, can identify the length of the tunnel and its exact location without false alarms.

Like many of Israel’s other astonishing tech achievements, this anti-tunnel technology reiterates the extraordinary culture of Israeli military research and development.

In February the Financial Times reported that the US will provide $120 million over the next three years to help develop complementary technologies.

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