Nice Tunnel

About 400 arms smuggling tunnels linking Egyptian Sinai to Palestinian Gaza under the Philadelphi border route have been unearthed and destroyed in the last couple of years by Israeli forces.

This shaft was situated under a chicken coop near the Karni goods crossing into Israel.

Clearly designed by competent engineers, plastered reinforced concrete walls run its 300-meter length.

Finished, the project would have run 500-600 meters, making it the longest Palestinian tunnel discovered yet.

It was to have headed under the electronic security fence marking the Gaza border and come out deep inside Israeli territory.

Link to Story

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I never realized the extent of the tunneling system over there. Wonder if they took queue from the Cu Chi Tunnels of Vietnam (210 mile tunnel system)? I also wonder if Iraq will do the same thing. It worked well in Vietnam. Anyone have any further information on tunnelling systems used in the wars being fought today?

Very intersesting story and pictures, i wouldnt want to accidentally fall in there heh

The Palestinians appear to have studied the N. Koreans methods:

This ambition is confirmed in one of particular documents revealed here by DEBKAfile�s exclusive military sources. It displays the avid study by Palestinian planners of the huge tunnels the North Koreans built in the 1970s under the fortified line dividing the two Koreas. This interest makes the current Israeli drive into Rafah all the more urgent and the problems still ahead daunting:

www.debka.com...

The article states that the tunnels appear to have Arafat's "signature" on them. Apparently, Saddam Hussein also employed N. Korean engineers to build underground structures.

A google turns up many instances of tunneling, advantages and disadvantages of using them. They haven't been big winners, according to one article, because:

Tunnels have not been big winners in military history. As I cast my mind back in time, I can think of only a few examples of tunnels playing a key role in a campaign.

General Ambrose Burnside dug a huge tunnel under Confederate lines during the Civil War and exploded a bomb to break a Confederate front. Huge disaster, killed mostly his own men.
UK & US POWs relied heavily on tunnels in escaping from German camps in WW2. Tactically successful, but no strategic impact.
Vietnamese built huge tunnel network in South Vietnam. Tactically successful, but they still had to wait until the US left to win the war.
In WW1, despite huge "digging" orientation of war, it was not tunnels, but shock troops (Schosstruppen) and tanks that finally broke stalemate.
Tunnels basically seem to be have been tactically useful, but not dispositive. THere are good reasons for this.

Tunnels, by their nature, are underground. The enemy is aboveground. Victory requires defeating the enemy's main force.
War is usually won by maneuver. Tunnels offer limited capacity for maneuver.

www.wfzimmerman.com...



EDIT: I wanted to add that tunnels are quite effective in some cases, for example, smuggling people under the border from Mexico to the US.

[edit on 13-12-2004 by jsobecky]

Thanks for the additional research jsobecky.

For everyone worried about the alleged coming of the police state it's time to start digging to Canada.

Edit: Can anyone find what they are using to build such tunnels? These tunnels can't be that easy to build.

[edit on 12-13-2004 by ShadowHasNoSource]