Israel says new Gaza tunnel foiled, lifts veil on detection lab

APD NEWS

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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday announced the destruction of the "deepest and longest" tunnel to penetrate Israeli territory from Gaza, and unveiled the detection lab used to locate it.

As part of the effort to locate and thwart tunnels in the Gaza Strip, a technological laboratory for the detection and location of tunnels was established two years ago in the Gaza Division, the Israeli army said in a statement issued Sunday.

The IDF said locating and thwarting tunnels involves the integration of technological, intelligence and operational efforts.

The laboratory has successfully destroyed five tunnels in recent months by combining the capabilities of the engineering, intelligence and the technological fronts, noted the IDF.

Construction work can be seen on the Israeli side of the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, March 18, 2018.

The laboratory is the technological branch of tunnel detection, and it uses innovative ground research, which includes scanning cavities and their dynamics, added the IDF. The laboratory also works to improve existing technologies and strives to develop new discovery and mapping techniques that match the specific challenges of tunnel detection.

Laboratory personnel work closely with intelligence personnel, the engineering forces and other units in the field until the tunnel is located and destroyed, according to the IDF.

The connection between human ability, technological intelligence and effective operational activity has yielded results at a rapid pace, said the Israeli army.

Recently, the lab received a certificate of excellence from the head of the Ground Technological Division at the Technological and Logistics Directorate, noted the Israeli army.

By the end of next year, the IDF will deploy sensors as part of the laboratory's tools all along the border, and will complete both underground and overground barriers at the border as part of a Gaza border defense project estimated to total some 3.5 billion US dollars, Israel's Hadashot TV news reported.

(CGTN)