TEL AVIV — Israel's military has assessed that Palestinian
insurgency groups would construct tunnels to infiltrate and attack the
Jewish state from the West Bank.
"The assumption is that when the wall is completed, the [Israel] army
will end or vastly reduce patrols on the other side," an intelligence
officer said. "This will leave the terrorists with the freedom to do what
they want."
Officials said Hamas and Fatah militias have overseen the construction
of hundreds of tunnels that stem from the Gaza Strip. Israel Security Agency
director Yuval Diskin reported at least 10 tunnels that link the Gaza
Strip with Israel, Middle East Newsline reported.
Military sources said an assessment by the intelligence division as well
as the Engineering Corps envisioned the launch of a Palestinian smuggling
industry based on a network of tunnels from the West Bank into Israel. The
sources said the industry would begin after the completion of the Israeli
security wall along the West Bank.
"The tunnel industry would rival that of the Gaza Strip and be financed
by both organized crime as well as terrorists," a military source said.
"They would smuggle terrorists and weapons into Israel for attacks as well
as laborers who seek employment."
A military officer told The Jerusalem Post that Palestinians were
preparing for tunnel construction. Maj. Eran Davidi, deputy commander of
Sayeret Yahalom, the Engineering Corps's elite unit, said the industry would
first serve those who want to enter Israel for criminal purposes.
"At first it will start with criminal infiltrations and people looking
for jobs," Davidi said. "But like the southern border with Egypt, the
terrorists will then begin to catch a ride on the back of the criminal
infrastructure and will also use the tunnels."
Davidi's unit has been responsible for detecting and destroying
insurgency tunnels in the Gaza Strip as well as in Lebanon during the war
against Hizbullah in mid-2006. The officer said the Palestinians have been
steadily improving their tunnel network, protected by land mines.
The military sources said the construction of tunnels in the West Bank
would be more difficult than in the soft soil of the Gaza Strip. But they
said Hizbullah has been aiding Palestinian insurgency groups in tunnel
construction as well as providing high-quality explosives.
