(Dan Tri) – The border fence built by Israel to separate it from Gaza has been penetrated by drones, explosives and bulldozers of Hamas forces.
The Israel-Gaza border fence was breached on October 7 (Photo: Reuters).
On the morning of October 7, after firing more than 2,000 rockets toward Israel, Hamas forces continued to penetrate the fence on the border between Gaza and Israel, one of the most modern security fences in the world.
`Steel Wall`
Security fence between Israel and Gaza (Graphic: Washington Post).
The first fence on the Israel-Gaza border was built in 1994, extending about 60km, along eastern Gaza.
The fence consists of different parts, including a 6m high smart fence installed with hundreds of security cameras, radars and sensors to detect any break-ins.
The security fence between Israel and Gaza is one of the most modern security fences in the world (Graphic: Washington Post).
Another part of this fence is an underground concrete wall, but the depth has not been disclosed.
Near the fence are observation towers and sand dunes used to monitor threats and hinder enemy incursions.
In 2021, then-Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz called this fence a `steel wall` separating Southern Israel from Gaza.
However, according to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, in the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7, this fence was penetrated in 29 different positions.
Analysts say that Israeli security forces here are relatively thin due to their focus on the West Bank region.
`The most important part of the system is the device that provides the data and warnings,` said Matthew Levitt, director of the counterterrorism program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
How Hamas penetrated Israel’s `steel wall`.
How Hamas forces crossed Israel’s border fence (Graphic: Washington Post).
The Washington Post quoted security sources as saying that Hamas used commercial drones to bomb Israeli observation towers, communications infrastructure and weapons systems along the border.
In addition, according to the Israeli military, Hamas has fired more than 2,000 to more than 3,000 rockets into the country’s territory, even reaching cities like Tel Aviv.
Hamas forces are said to have also used explosives to destroy sections of the fence.
After destroying Israel’s fence with explosives, Hamas forces flooded into the Israeli border by trucks or motorbikes (Graphic: Washington Post).
According to experts, it took Hamas many weeks to prepare its plan to neutralize Israel’s fence.
`The key is to move the devices into place a few weeks in advance, then place them inside buildings or under tarps,` said Michael E. O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Institute.
According to Mr. O’Hanlon, many vehicles may have been hidden in parking lots or construction areas.
Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7 can be considered the most serious in decades.
Sources said that Hamas seems to have spent more than 2 years preparing for this raid from the target to the method of attack.
`They (Hamas) knew exactly what the target was going to be,` said Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer and head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University.
