WhatsappThe discovery raises new questions about terrorist infrastructure deep inside Palestinian-controlled urban areas of Judea and Samaria.
The IDF’s ongoing counterterrorism operation in Hebron has uncovered something that should concern Israel’s security establishment: an underground passageway adjacent to the home of one of the Palestinian terrorists responsible for Friday’s deadly shooting attack.
According to the IDF, the excavation reaches approximately 15 meters underground and is just 75 centimeters wide. The passageway has no known exit, and the military emphasizes that its location deep inside Hebron means it does not pose a direct threat to nearby Jewish communities.
However, the discovery raises an important question: What was being constructed beneath Hebron, and for what purpose?
An electronic device discovered inside the underground passageway has been transferred for investigation. At this stage, the IDF has not established whether the excavation was intended for terrorist activity.
But the broader operational picture deserves attention.
Israeli forces have searched more than 500 buildings and structures in the neighborhood where the two terrorists lived. Approximately 50 suspects have been detained for questioning, while only two firearms have reportedly been confiscated.
The operation has also displaced more than 2,000 Palestinian residents.
These numbers highlight the complexity of counterterrorism operations in densely populated Palestinian urban environments. Hundreds of structures must be searched, underground spaces investigated, and potential terrorist networks identified, often with limited immediate intelligence about where weapons and operatives are concealed.
Hebron is not Gaza. But Israel cannot afford to ignore the lessons of Gaza.
For years, Hamas transformed civilian neighborhoods into environments where terrorist infrastructure could be concealed beneath ordinary buildings. Israel paid an enormous price for underestimating the scale of that threat.
The discovery in Hebron does not establish the existence of a comparable tunnel network in Judea and Samaria. Nevertheless, it demonstrates why Israeli forces must investigate suspicious underground construction before it becomes an operational threat.
The more significant issue is strategic.
Judea and Samaria remain critical to Israel’s national security. The proximity of Palestinian population centers to Jewish communities, major transportation arteries, and Israel’s coastal heartland means that even relatively small terrorist networks can pose serious dangers.
Friday’s deadly attack is another reminder that terrorist threats cannot be measured solely by the number of weapons recovered during a military raid.
Israel must maintain the intelligence penetration, operational freedom, and military initiative necessary to dismantle terrorist infrastructure before attacks occur.
The investigation into Hebron’s underground passageway may ultimately reveal something relatively limited—or something more significant.
Either way, the lesson remains unchanged.
Israel cannot wait for terrorist infrastructure to become an established threat before acting against it.
