Residents of a community along the border wall with the West Bank claimed they were hearing sounds of digging under their homes. Kochav Yair-Tzur Yigal municipality attempted to bolster security after a neighboring community made similar claims. The military in that case found no evidence of tunnels being dug under the border.
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In response to the concerns about possible terrorist infiltrations into the community, either through a tunnel or by breaching the border fence itself, the municipality established three observation posts manned by armed residents recruited into the IDF reserves.
One observation post monitors the Palestinian city of Qalqilya, located 300 meters from the community’s southern most homes. The two posts on the eastern side of Kochav Ya'ir-Tzur Yigal overlook three other Palestinian villages, which are also located hundreds of meters from the community.
"The observation posts are manned at all times to ensure the security of our residents," Mayor Yuval Arad said. "We believed we urgently needed to protect the community and safeguard residents from the unknown."
He said that surveys conducted by security agencies found no evidence of the existence of an underground tunnel but the residents' concerns persisted after the events of October 7.
The section of the border fence adjacent to Kochav Ya'ir-Tzur Yigal is meters away from Qalqilya. and work is underway to build a new barrier that would provide better security at the site after the existing wall was found to have been breached in at least three places and the security and surveillance equipment on it was either stolen or disabled by Palestinians.
"The old fence, from which all defense measures were removed, is a useless fence that won’t protect anyone. In contrast, the barrier that the Defense Ministry is currently building, would prevent the entry of infiltrators. I hope this project will be completed as quickly as possible."
In Bat Hefer, complaints from residents in the area about subterranean digging noises coming from the direction of the Palestinian village of Shuweika led the Emek Hefer Regional Council to conduct professional surveys to determine the situation. In the three tests conducted so far, no signs of tunnels were found, and two additional tests were planned for the near future.
However, residents of Kochav Ya'ir-Tzur Yigal and Bat Hefer aren’t alone in their concerns, and many other communities close to the West Bank barrier fear possible infiltration by terrorists. "After what we learned on October 7, it’s clear that Israel needs to make a change and treat the communities in the area differently," noted Arad.
"We must give significant budget to security measures, bolster forces, patrols, and technologies, and provide local authorities with alert squads, weapons, equipment, and budgets needed to protect residents. Our responsibility and duty are to ensure that the residents’ security is maintained at all times. That’s what is expected of us, and that’s what we’re currently fighting for," he added.
As part of their appeal, a forum of local municipalities along the West Bank barrier was established, which issued a letter to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant inviting him to tour the barrier.
In the letter, the forum wrote to Gallant, "It’s no secret that the barrier’s tactical paradigm, no matter how sophisticated it may be, completely failed on the morning of October 7, in the face of the horrors seen in communities close to the Gaza Strip."
Mayors of local municipalities in the forum added in the letter they "now demand the government recognize the dangers and increase the budget for the installation of security measures, advanced technologies, fencing, and the addition of military, security, and defense forces in the area."