Israeli intelligence has not lived up to its reputation in the matter of the tunnels dug by Hamas under the Gaza Strip. These tunnels were perceived primarily as routes for smuggling, giving Hamas leaders the chance to line their pockets by charging tolls. In fact, here was a concealed battlefield serving multiple purposes. The tunnels ran under the border with Israel, permitting surprise attacks, and also served as command-and-control centers and weapons depots out of sight and out of reach. All this, it turns out, was constructed and paid for by Iran, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Equipment for detection was missing, and an Israeli geologist who sounded a warning was disregarded.
Captured Hamas men now reveal that a massive attack had been planned to coincide with the Jewish New Year due in September. Hundreds of Hamas men were to emerge from the tunnels, and take Israelis by surprise in what might have been a local equivalent of 9/11. The narrow escape from this horror seems to be determining the Israeli government to obliterate the tunnel network.
But there is an unanswered question. If there was to be this coup in September, why did Hamas take steps like firing rockets ahead of time that were bound to lead to open fighting and lose the element of surprise? The ruin of the massive investment in anti-Israel terror must be the cause of great pain in Tehran.
Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy akin to Hamas, is busy obeying orders from Tehran to defend the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad. Several hundred Hezbollahis have been killed but the few thousand others in the ranks have at their disposal an arsenal larger and more dangerous that everything in the Hamas tunnels. The days pass, however, and Hezbollah does not open a second front. Another unanswered question with importance for the future is whether its strength has been dissipated, or Israel’s self-defense is proving a deterrent.