Strategic tunnels used by Hamas spook Israelis

(MENAFN- Arab News) R AM Israel: With deadly fighting raging next door in the Gaza Strip southern Israeli towns along the border have turned into mini army bases as most residents have fled.Those left behind say they are long inured to near-daily salvos of rocket fire from Gaza but newly discovered tunnels that have been dug by militants nearby have them spooked.'It's changed our viewpoint entirely. The rockets we somehow got used to. This is something else. They are under our homes" said Ofra Benudiz a 52-year-old mother of four in Nir Am a kibbutz near Sderot. 'Our greatest fear is that they will infiltrate."Earlier this week 10 Gaza militants dressed in Israeli army uniforms popped out of the ground less than a mile away. They killed four Israeli soldiers before an airstrike killed them preventing them from moving deeper into the country.Most of Nir Am's 350 residents had already been relocated to safer areas in central and northern Israel as happened in two previous wars with Hamas militants in Gaza kibbutz spokesman Ofer Liberman said. Those remaining were shocked as Israeli troops entered the agricultural community in full combat gear fearing that gunmen had sneaked inside.Soldiers have taken over communal areas ready to act in case of emergency. The sunflower and avocado fields have become staging grounds for troops going in and out of Gaza with jeeps and tanks kicking up sandstorms as the smoke from the Gaza bombings wafts close by.Israeli soldiers have uncovered about 60 shafts leading into 28 underground tunnels some as deep as 30 meters the military said.Liberman said residents felt fortunate that the military was around in such large numbers to protect them when Monday's infiltration took place. 'My realistic hope is that this will give us 10 years of quiet because I know it won't give us 40 and I'm tired of it only giving us two" he said.Ronnie Levine 62 said: 'It's like living next to a volcano you never know when it is going to erupt. We've worked so hard to learn how to deal with the rockets. Now we'll have to figure out what to do with the tunnels. That's life here."