During recent days, as Israel continues to uncover Hezbollah terror tunnels in the north as part of Operation Northern Shield, some residents of Sderot and the area communities have reported hearing “underground digging”, fearing new Hamas tunnels are being constructed from Gaza into Israel.

With Sderot being about half-a-mile from the Gaza border, it is not impossible to fathom that Hamas would be able to build a tunnel that far. One resident described the sounds to Israeli media outlets in the following manner: “It is a type of echo. It sounds as if the noises are coming from far away, but we can still hear the blows of a hammer. I am very scared. I am trying to convince myself that this isn’t a terror tunnel, but it very scary.”

The Sderot Municipality has released the following clarification in response to the fears of residents: “The Sderot municipality wants to update that the army’s tests in Sderot regarding the digging of tunnels, as reported by residents, indicate that there are currently no findings for a tunnel that penetrated from Gaza towards the city of Sderot. The Gaza Division has confirmed this information to us.”

“It is important to note that five new residential neighborhoods are currently being built in Sderot, some of which are not far from the neighborhood where the residents who reported the noise are living. In addition, the IDF completed the barrier opposite Sderot, whose purpose is to identify the digging of tunnels towards the city, and therefore a high chance that if a tunnel were dug, the IDF’s technological means would identify it.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)