When is the IDF going to do something about these tunnels in the past we have heard lots of schemes they are investigating the idea of doing but then the whole thing gets put on the back shelf and nothing is done. If the IDF is serious about stopping the smuggling of weapons, terrorists and the kidnapping of soilders then its time to stop talking about plans and start putting them into action. Gaza needs its verssion of the security fence but this will be something to stop tunneling.

That's in the brain of Olmert, the worst PM in Israel's history! From his left ear to his right ear, actually. So the israeli population can give him every advice or warnings on earth, he won't ear them. Sad...

Stop just looking at them and create a larger buffer zone. This tunnel was 700 m from the border- create a buffer zone of 700 meters along the entire border. If they dig a tunnel from 900 meters away, enlarge the buffer zone to 900 meters. Eventually they will give up when their own people realize they are losing all their farm land due to Hamas activities. When the citizens of Gaza turn their guns on Hamas, then Israel will have some quiet.

Dang, maybe that's why I can't grow any tomatoes around here: those rabbits and chipmunks have built too many tunnels in my yard. Wait until I get some dynamite! I'll teach them to tunnel! Where do you buy that stuff? At the grocery, the farm equipment, the hardware or the building supply store? Where's Rashid, when you need an answer?

and so do palestinians. How much more proof do we need that these poeple will never stop terrorizing Israel??? Masking terror with tomatoe hot houses, ambulances, schools...how much more can Israel tolerate?

tunnel will not help us believe me but they told me to go away better i said to dig a tunnel due west, i have started digging myself a nice little tunnel and i am about 100 meters from the gaza beach, the dig is very easy now because the sand is very wet now. i will continue to dig all the way until i hear french and then i know believe me i will be under france and i will dig up to unite with all our brothers in the arab republic of france

for no reason. Where is the justice?

The only way to deter the Palestinian Arab aggression is to be tough with them. Jail their leaders, don't worry about the collateral damage, create a waterway next to the fence. You are dealing with the hateful, arrogant, nasty enemy who is not interested in peace. Only a tough and strong Israel will survive in the one of the worst neighborhoods in the world.

A possible solution to all this tunnel business is to use a Submarine solution. Sound travels faster through a denser medium like water for example, and the eyes of submarine is actually the sonar. If a grid of underground listening stations like the undersea SOSUS (Sound Surveillance System used by the US Navy to pick up the sound of shipping and submarine activity around the globe ) were to be placed around the border, then the sound of tunelling and tunnel infiltration could be picked up in real time. The IDF could get the software from the US Navy. It would of course have to be adapted to screen out surface noise and traffic. But If there's the will, and the money, there's a way.

he's a left winger, posing as a right winger who poses as a Palestinian, to make right wingers look bad.

Arabs have been ranting for years about "Land for Peace" , while every inch that they get goes to launching terror and not for creating any viable society. Since they so deeply believe the equation that land equals peace, the corollary MUST be "Terror loses Land". If they make tunnels and missiles of a certain range, then they LOSE that exact range of land. Simple, secure, and let them whine about it at the UN, the Useless Nothings.

I suggest it again. The areas from where tunnels are dug should have all arable land salted. That way, they won't be able to grow anything there... and maybe will get it into some of their brains that killing Jews is not something that Jews will look kindly upon.

Now and then Rashid is almost amusing. He occasionally sounds like he might know where to get a few sticks of dynamite. On the other hand, anybody who ends up with a gross of burqas can't have too much good sense. Maybe all that right-wing, left-wing, down-the-middle, over the top, under the fence, don't know if I'm coming or going stuff will get anybody hysterical. And I don't want to hear one word about my being so familiar with it, either! I simply and only want to "harvest" one frigging tomato some year and before I kick the bucket.

I know that they like to dress like girls / women, when not hiding behind them. Were the clothes designer or Wal-Mart, just curious. Mark from Georgia

energy and time to construct and build tunnels, bombs etc. instead of using it in order to improve the situation of their own people.

Tell us more about your life in Gaza. The way things are going under the enlightened Olmert government, I foresee that in a year or two the whole Israeli population may be living under the even more enlightened leadership of Hamas. The centrist Likud voters already told us where they stand. 1) more than half don't care to vote. 2) those who did, prefer someone "not too Jewish". Yup, I think they deserve Hamas.

B"H Israel had higher priorities than having Jews live and secure the hothouses. Israel turned these over for Hamas to do this work. This is the outcome. The internal hatred among the Jews is devastating in its consequence on Israel.

What kind of crazy statement is it when a military leader says that the actions in the Gaza terror nest is NOT to make Hamas less strong, but to uncover the tunnels? In other words, their main mission, if one could call it such, is NOT to change the strategic calculus, where by it would be NECESSARY to fully invade Gaza & destroy the terror groups. Am I making myself clear, and do you all understand what this means for Israel's security? The IDF is now a 'maintenance' force. No more, no less.

In the past 7 years, since September 2000 Palestinians armed groups have killed almost 1, 100 Israelis, including 120 children, and in the same period the IDF has killed more than 4,100 Palestinians, including 850 children. "Salting the earth" is not what is necessary to bring peace.

In other words, not to make the Palestinians, the good terrorists and the bad ones, angry. Why? Because Bush wants to give them a state no matter what. And angry Palestinians are bad PR for what he's trying to accomplish. So Olmert, who's never been good at defending Israel, has now his arms tied behind his back. He'll make a mild show of force every once in a while, but only to distract his critics. The truth is that he's playing along a most dishonorable game of selling off his own country.

one could legitimately discuss a re-engagement in Gaza. Of course, with the present government, there's only the expulsion and transfer of more Jews on the horizon.

In the US, small explosives are used to locate small anamolies in the soil -- for example dinosaur fossils. The explosives are tracked by energy waves as they pass through the ground. I'm sure the technology would work to locate these tunnels, and it would be very inexpensive.

Why don't the Israelis just throw in great masses of smoke bombs,into these rat holes,and see where the smoke comes out,,and then go and blow these rat holes to hell?Or even better,Create a MINI Earthquake,that should crush these RAT holes;and hopefully with the terrorists in them..;

we intend to a have a simultaneous dig of 500,000 tunnels. be prepared! we are going to have a ball.

The Israeli casualties were overwhelmingly civilians that had not part in the fight. They were doing their marketing, riding buses, attending Seders, etc. The Arabs were either terrorists themselves, aiding terrorists directly or being used as human shields. But let's get to the real issue. This is not a football game where scores are kept and penalties are analyzed. This is about the institutionalized hatred within the Arab world that will not allow peace to exist on earth until Israel and all Jews are dead. This is about forcing your ideology on others. This is about Submit or Die. Now tell me who the bad guys are . . .

This is a fixable and interesting engineering problem. Israel is a small country so strange solutions might help. A methodical approach similar to preventative maintenance is the key. Think of the tracked drilling equipment used to bore holes in rock: Drill a string of holes, pack the explosive, shoot it, and move on. If done correctly you’ll cave in existing tunnels and leave behind fractured earth that’s dangerous to tunnel through. A good geotech/mining civil engineer and proper geotech survey information would be a good way to customize techniques needed in each local area. The Jews already have a knack for modifying construction equipment (Caterpillar) they just need to take the next step. Tracked rock drillers (or some variant useful in sand) could be used in a preventative maintenance role. These rigs could methodically drill and shoot up and down the border. Just don’t excavate anything after shooting the charges. Proximity, geology, intelligence, and sensors could help with locating good start points and areas of focus. A few drill bores should be left intact so that a sensor string can be put down the hole. Maybe you can even remove most of the guesswork. The tunnels cold be located seismically. There is such a package that’s mobile. Oil companies have used them for years. If a driller was able to poke a drill tip right into the tunnel, all kinds of sick payback could be dealt out: water flooding, CS gas, ants, wasps, mercaptians, etc. Anyone in the tunnel is fair prey so you might as well get some entertainment. Pumping in water or a colored smoke mixed with mercaptians is a good idea. It will also reveal the ends of the tunnel. If your in an especially angry mood then pump in some hydrocarbon/air mixture and let-r-rip.

#21 "Mr. Fair" would you be happier if the "score" would be "4,100 Israelis dead against 1, 100 Palestinians"?? sorry.