Hi,
Tunnel demolishing is another big project IDF Combat Engineering Corps are responsible for during this war.
After clearing up the buildings above the ground in the Gaza strip and demolishing Hamas infrastructure in those buildings, the focus had moved to the underground infrastructure.
The first step in tunnel demolishing is finding it. Unlike the buildings that anyone can see, and you just need to decide which one will go first, the tunnels are built underground and are harder to find.
IDF uses intelligence and different technology devices to locate the tunnel locations. It might seem easy when you hear there are 600km of tunnels in the Gaza strip (when London Underground has only 500 km), but it still likes to find a needle in an haystack.
Most of the work is done by using drillers to hit the tunnel. When you hit the tunnel, you can use other devices to locate the route direction and use the driller to hit the tunnel a couple more times.
The demolishing itself of the tunnels is also more complicated than demolishing buildings. Buildings can be exploded (by airstrike or manually by Engineering Corps soldiers) or demolished by heavy machinery (mainly excavators or D9s).
But tunnels can only be efficiently demolished using a special kind of explosive. This kind is liquid enough to flow in the tunnel and fill it in. The tunnel can then be exploded, including all its branches. This is the same method that was used for the tunnels in the rock of Lebanon.
Take Care
Gad
Hitchhiking on the driller to the next drilling location
Excavator digging for a tunnel
A tank with a fallen IDF observer flag and a soldier keeps an eye on the driller work at sunset
Demolishing of one of the tunnel that was found using explosives. You can see the entering point where the driller hit the tunnel and its route itself
Demolishing another tunnel that was found in the drillings