The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) continues to face the challenge of Hamas’s subterranean terror tunnels, which they have built beneath Gaza over the years. These tunnels are used to smuggle weapons, conduct terrorist attacks, and move fighters around the region.
The IDF have already employed various tactics to counter these terror tunnels, such as mapping out subterranean movements, deploying underground sensors, and using cutting-edge technology to detect them. However, the IDF must now develop an even more comprehensive strategy to deal with the ‘Gaza metro’, as these terror tunnels have become known.
The IDF’s next steps must include properly and systematically identifying the tunnels, developing better technologies to monitor and detect activity within them, and working to prevent construction of new tunnels. The IDF should also focus on ways to reduce their operational significance, such as by training intelligence officers to track tunnel movements and create disruption in terrorist communication networks. Additionally, the IDF must work to ensure that any tunnel-related operations are carried out quickly and accurately in order to minimize [civilian casualties].
Furthermore, the IDF should coordinate with other organizations such as the United Nations and the Palestinian Authority to find comprehensive solutions to the problem. This might include introducing stricter laws governing the construction and use of tunnels within the Gaza Strip, as well as providing aid to mitigate the socio-economic conditions that may be motivating the construction and use of these terror tunnels.
All of these actions should be taken with the aim of minimizing the casualties caused by the Hamas’s use of subterranean terror tunnels, whilst safeguarding the security of Israeli civilians and military personnel.
