Hamas plans to challenge the new security barrier Israel has built around the Gaza Strip Hamas claims to have already developed a number of ways to overcome it 

The new barrier symbolizes Israel's defense and defense policy

There is no doubt that the construction of the new security barrier is changing the security reality on the Gaza border. It increases the sense of security of the IDF forces on the Gaza border and also of the residents of the settlements in the "Gaza Envelope". The construction of the barrier lasted 3.5 years, it includes underground sensors, a "smart" fence 6 meters above the ground, a sea barrier that includes For detecting intrusions from the sea, a remote-controlled weapon system, a variety of radars and cameras and command and control rooms.

Palestinian anger and frustration

The new security barrier increases the frustration of Palestinian terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip and drops the carpet of their military planning to surprise Israel by infiltrating its territory to carry out killings or bargaining attacks, namely the abduction of Israeli soldiers and civilians from IDF bases or Gaza Envelope settlements. These attacks are at the forefront of Hamas' routine and war, and are defined by them as "strategic" attacks.

Hamas will challenge Israel

Hamas has remained silent since the construction of the new security barrier was completed, during the years the barrier was built there were several attempts by terrorist organizations to disrupt its construction work but they failed, the IDF demonstrated determination and commitment to the task to finish the work as early as possible.

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mardawi told the Quds News Agency on December 10 that the Palestinian "resistance" organizations would succeed in crossing the new security barrier set up by Israel and that the coming days would prove it. He refused to list what Hamas see as the weaknesses of the barrier. 

The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar revealed a few days ago that Hamas engineers had succeeded in finding practical solutions that would neutralize the security benefit that Israel hopes to derive from the new security barrier.

In the recent war in the Gaza Strip, known as the "Guardian of the Wall," Hamas made no attempt to infiltrate Israel through tunnels. Their attempt to activate his naval commando to infiltrate Israel through the sea was thwarted. Hamas claims that the security barrier was not put to the test in the last war because Israel evacuated all the "Gaza Envelope" settlements in advance before the start of the fighting and that no ground campaign developed. This claim, of course was false.

Hamas used only its rocket capabilities during the war, but this does not indicate that this will be the case in the next war against Israel. Sources in Hamas claim that the organization's engineers have found ways to neutralize the sensors that Israel has planted in the belly of the earth to detect new tunnels, the new security barrier is planted in the ground at a depth of 30 to 40 meters, but Hamas contends that they have ways to by-pass this which will let them pass under it and penetrate into Israeli territory.

Therefore, Hamas plans to challenge Israel in the next war and try to prove that the construction of the new security barrier and all the resources invested in it are a great failure of the Israeli security concept. 

How does Hamas plan to do this?

A. Construction of new tunnels in the depths of the earth, under the new ground barrier, which will penetrate into Israeli territory.

B. Increasing the use of new rockets with a larger range with higher accuracy and with larger warheads that will prove that the obstacle can not prevent rockets being fired at Israel.

C. Launching UAVs developed by Hamas' military wing that will fly over the barrier, infiltrate Israeli territory and attack IDF bases and settlements along the border.

D. Penetration by Hamas naval commandos who have developed special means to penetrate the underwater fence that Israel has planted in the area of the beaches near the Gaza Strip border.

Mustafa a-Zawaf, one of the prominent commentators in the Gaza Strip who is very close to the Hamas movement, estimates that the construction of the new security barrier will only accelerate Hamas' development of new weapons to achieve its goals and that the Palestinians have already demonstrated their creativity.

It seems that Israel and the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip are now entering into a long "battle of minds" whose results will be seen in the next campaign in the Gaza Strip. Israel is working day and night on the threat of rockets, such as the development of a laser cannon that could intercept rockets, the improvement of the "Iron Dome" system and the landing of a preemptive strike on rocket factories and reservoirs in the Gaza Strip.

The new security barrier will have to stand the test of whether it does effectively neutralize the threat of tunnels penetrating Israeli territory. 

The construction of the new security barrier is an expression of a concept that has taken over the IDF in recent years, a concept of defense and defense on the Gaza Strip border and the northern border against Hamas and Hezbollah threats instead of developing creative offensive concepts that will put the enemy on the defensive. It is not too late to discover creativity in these areas and invest resources in them.