The Israel Defense Forces sent additional troops into the Gaza Strip on Saturday night to bolster its efforts to find Hamas' offensive tunnels. As of now, it is believed that it could be a week before there is a cease-fire agreement that would bring Operation Protective Edge to an end. Offensive tunnels have become a strategic weapon for Hamas in recent years. Hamas used two of the tunnels before Israel began its ground operation on Thursday night -- one at Kerem Shalom on the first day of the fighting, and the second at Sufa on Thursday (after this attempted attack, the IDF launched its ground operation). The IDF views the remaining tunnels as "ticking bombs" that could be used for attacks at any time, as what happened near Kibbutz Be'eri on Saturday. Despite the heavy price paid in Saturday's attack, it could have been much worse. The IDF had no prior intelligence about the tunnel and nine terrorists entered Israel unnoticed at a forest near Be'eri. Instead of trying to enter the kibbutz, the terrorists chose to attack a nearby IDF post, not knowing it was abandoned. After dropping some of their equipment there, the terrorists noticed several IDF jeeps moving in the area. They fired rocket-propelled grenades at two jeeps, killing two soldiers and wounding a number of others. The group of soldiers -- 11 in total -- returned fire, killing one of the terrorists. The eight other terrorists tried to snatch the body of a dead Israeli. After failing to do so, they fled back to Gaza, leaving behind much of their equipment, including items used for kidnappings (handcuffs, blindfolds and anesthetics). On their way back to Gaza, the terrorists fired a missile at an IDF observation post. Reaching the border, the terrorists breached the fence and disappeared into Palestinian territory. Several hours later, terrorists used another tunnel, this one near Kissufim. This time, the IDF was prepared and the two terrorists who emerged from the tunnel were shot and killed. However, the IDF believes there are still other unidentified tunnels ready for immediate use by terrorists. Israel and Hamas are engaged in a race against the clock, with the IDF trying to find all of the tunnels before Hamas uses them. Or as one senior IDF officer said on Saturday night, "Hamas is rushing to use its assets before it loses them." So far, Hamas has lost 13 tunnels, some of which Israel possesses both ends of, with Israeli troops having taken control of the entry points in Gaza. These tunnels will be destroyed and Israel is making every effort to find and destroy all of the remaining tunnels before Operation Protective Edge comes to an end. As construction on tunnels like these takes around three years, destroying all of them would ensure Israel a long-term period of relative safety from the subterranean threat from Gaza. As expected, the IDF has encountered resistance during its anti-tunnel activities. Hamas was initially surprised by the timing and scope of the IDF ground operation, but, after a day, it regained its composure and began to fight. The main threat faced by Israeli troops is the one posed by anti-tank missiles (particularly the Kornet, which was used by Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War). There is also great concern that soldiers will be kidnapped. Soldiers have been instructed to thwart kidnappings by all means possible, even if this puts the life of the kidnapped soldier in danger. The IDF hopes that the ground operation will reduce the amount of rocket fire into Israel. Over the weekend, there was some decline in the volume of rocket fire, but it was too soon to tell whether this was due to the ground operation or rather the depletion of Hamas' rocket arsenal. The decline of medium-range rocket fire was particularly noticeable -- eight to 10 launches on Friday and Saturday, compared to 15-20 launches at the start of the fighting. Only in the next few days will we know whether this was because Hamas wanted to conserve its rockets for a long fight, or if there were other reasons for the decrease. Diplomatic efforts to end the Gaza operation continued over the weekend. The Qatari option was removed from the table, and the focus is now on the Egyptian cease-fire proposal. Egypt is continuing to insist that fighting must stop before discussions can be held about Hamas' economic and civil demands. Islamic Jihad has already expressed a willingness in principle to accept the Egyptian proposal and Israel is starting to see a certain amount of flexibility in Hamas, largely due to the growing internal criticism of political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal, who took a tough line against the cease-fire proposal last week, and the pressure being applied on Hamas by the tens of thousands of Gaza residents who have left their homes in combat zones to avoid harm. Until now, more than 300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. Around one-third of the fatalities were definitely terrorist operatives, and the percentage of terrorists among the dead is likely even higher. Israel believes that the pressure on Hamas, as well as increased international involvement (the U.N. secretary-general and French foreign minister are arriving in the region), will lead in the coming days to the formulation of an agreement that will define the terms of a cease-fire and the withdrawal of ground forces from Gaza. Until then, the IDF will continue a two-fold effort to notch operational achievements in Gaza and maintain a strong line of defense with the Iron Dome, which will prevent Hamas from exacting a heavy toll on the homefront.
