WarSclerotic

A contingent of IDF forces including trackers and engineers were sent to the city of Sderot in the western Negev on Tuesday evening after residents reported hearing noises of underground digging.

Similar reports have arrived in the past 10 days, all of which were investigated by the IDF.

In the past few months, the military has been constructing a barrier to block off the Gaza border both above and below ground. One of the purposes of the barrier is to prevent terrorists from digging tunnels under the border into Israel.

The barrier includes advanced sensors underground and a 6-meter (20-foot) fence above ground, similar to the one ‎‎along the Israeli-Egyptian border, and is being constructed at an estimated cost of NIS 3 ‎billion ‎‎($830 million).‎

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said Tuesday evening that “thus far, there is no evidence of tunnels being dug in the area. The IDF will continue to thoroughly investigate any report that arrives.”

In October, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response to the discovery of a Hamas tunnel that the IDF was “systematically crippling Hamas’ terror tunnel capabilities. … We are sparing no effort and are determined to maintain Israel’s security.”

Over the course of 2018, Israel has discovered and destroyed at least 15 tunnels leading into Israel from Gaza that were linked to Hamas’ vast network of underground passageways.