With Israeli rhetoric on Gaza ramping up, a key concern ahead of any offensive is the danger of the tunnels of the Palestinian resistance, writes Saleh Al-Naami In the early hours, Emad opens his frozen meat shop for business, located in the heart of Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp in the central Gaza Strip. He inspects the fridges, prepares the meat grinder, and goes over customer orders. But the daily routine does not erase from memory this 25-year-old man's pain, especially in these days, which mark the third anniversary of Israel's war on the Gaza Strip at the end of 2008. On the first day of the onslaught, Emad lost his father, Hassan, who was killed during the shelling of the main police station in central Gaza. Emad remembers his father on the morning of 27 December 2008 as he headed out to resolve a financial dispute with one merchant. He recalls his father's promise, that the two of them would have lunch together at a restaurant in Gaza City. Palestinians are nervous that the third anniversary of the war comes at a time when Israel is escalating threats to launch another war on Gaza. One of those most unnerved by these threats is Samaher, who still has to cope with her daughter Arwa's fears of hearing even thunder in winter, because it reminds the five-year-old of the deafening sounds of explosions around her family home during the war. Senior Israeli officials continue threatening a massive military campaign against Gaza. The Israeli army chief-of-staff, General Beni Ganz, said that launching a war against Gaza is "a matter of time". Meanwhile, the commander of the army's Southern Command, Tal Russo, said that the army is acting on the premise that an attack on Gaza is certain to take place. At the same time, the commander of the army's paratroopers said that the coming offensive on Gaza "will be more destructive than the one at the end of 2008". Nonetheless, Tel Aviv worries that Israel will suffer grave losses in the war. Israeli military sources revealed that the key challenge facing Israel if it starts massive military operations against the Gaza Strip are the hundreds of booby-trapped tunnels. The sources said that both the Israeli army and the military production sector are trying to develop technology solutions for the forces invading Gaza. Yediot Aharonot newspaper quoted a source as saying: "There are infinite underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip that are so advanced to allow the passage of people, vehicles and weapons, as well as tunnels to launch an offensive from house to house, from one area to another." The source continued that the Palestinian resistance would use these tunnels to attack occupation forces when they invade Gaza, adding that the Palestinian resistance has burrowed tunnels close to the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel with the aim of kidnapping the largest number of Israeli soldiers as they advance. The source noted that the offensive tunnels dug by the Palestinian resistance under the Gaza Strip would be the biggest challenge facing the Israeli army once it invades. "The Gaza Strip is close to caving in because so many tunnels were dug in preparation for an Israeli attack," the source claimed. "But just as we were able to develop defence systems against rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, we should develop solutions for the dangers of tunnels." The source stated that the army's engineering corps, Yahalom, will be responsible for destroying the tunnels ahead of time, and that the Israeli army will use both specialised units to attack Gaza as well as reserve forces to assist in occupying towns and refugees camps that are connected via tunnels. He added that intense training has been underway to achieve this goal. "Just as the enemy uses height to launch rockets, it is also using depth to launch attacks in case of a ground operation against the Gaza Strip," the source explained. The source warned that the tunnels being dug in Gaza are "deeper and longer than the ones the army is familiar with. For Hamas, they are combat weapons." He added that eliminating booby-trapped tunnels is especially important since the Israeli army believes a quick and tangible resolution must be achieved with the least losses, and that "the army has drawn up a combat plan that requires the assistance of a large number of air, naval and ground forces to achieve a quick resolution." "The speed factor, especially based on a tight political schedule, will result in army forces advancing into Gaza quickly," revealed the source. "Prisoners will be interrogated on the spot since military units will be accompanied by interrogators who will play a key role in the anticipated military operation." The source added that the army plans to conduct preliminary interrogations of Hamas members who are arrested deep inside the Gaza Strip, and the information will be used to serve the military campaign until it achieves its goals. Meanwhile, the Israeli army said it has trained its troops to prevent capture. The army said that "kidnappings" must be prevented in the future at any price and by all means. As well as training against capture, the army has taken steps to minimise the ability of the Palestinian resistance to seize soldiers, including fortifying military posts inside the Gaza Strip and on the border with Egypt, since these are considered areas where the resistance can overpower the Israeli army and take soldiers. The most critical decision taken by the army to prevent the "kidnapping" of soldiers, however, is to put sacrifice ahead of capture. For example, if the resistance captures a soldier and the army finds out, all Israeli forces are ordered to intervene to recover the soldier and prevent the captors from getting away, even if this means bombing the captors and killing the captured soldier. Surprisingly, the revelation of these orders did not stir controversy inside Israel although it is unprecedented in Israeli military history, especially in terms of making such orders public. And if the Palestinian resistance is successful in capturing an Israeli soldier, according to the new orders of the army, Israel will be required to respond in a disproportionate manner. This means that the army will ask the Israeli political leadership for permission to target civilian areas to pressure the Palestinians to force resistance groups to surrender the captured soldier. Israeli threats of launching a military assault on the Gaza Strip and military training by the Israeli army in preparation for this are underway despite statements by Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal asserting that his group is leaning towards adopting peaceful popular resistance in the coming phase. Meshaal's statement succeeded in making some Israeli commentators criticise the Israeli army for threatening war on the Gaza Strip. Gideon Levy, senior commentator at Haaretz newspaper, condemned Israeli threats, saying: "While Meshaal declares that his group is adopting popular resistance, Hamas asserting its support for creating a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, and as the Palestinian Authority declares that it agrees to negotiations despite settlement building as long as dozens of Palestinian detainees are released, the Israeli government and military are ignoring the changes in Palestinian positions." Levy accused Israeli leaders of ignoring these changes on purpose, undercutting their sincerity, and responding to developments with rejection and debilitating demands.
