What is IDF’s Yahalom Unit, the force tasked with finding and destroying Hamas tunnels?

It is well known that Hamas has constructed a series of underground tunnels – what the Israelis call ‘the metro’ – underneath Gaza. Israel on Wednesday claimed to have found a Hamas facility under Al-Shifa Hospital. Dozens of soldiers escorted journalists through a narrow stone tunnel — which the military said stretched 150 meters — to a series of underground bunkers beneath Shifa Hospital in a shattered Gaza City. The living quarters, located at the end of the tunnel, had an air conditioner, kitchen, bathroom and pair of metal cots in a room fashioned from rusty white tile. But did you know that Israel has a special force to detect Hamas tunnels? The troops, known as the Yahalom Unit, are part of the Israel Defence Force. Let’s take a closer look at the unit: Yahalom means diamond in Hebrew. As per Business Insider, the unit was established in 1995. It grew twice in size post the 2014 Gaza War — which Israel refers to as Operation Protective Edge. “Yahalom played a critical role in Operation Protective Edge – the destruction of the Hamas tunnel infrastructure and the defense of our forces, which led to a significant increase in the unit, doubling its capabilities and turning it into a future engineering leader,” the IDF website states.

As per The Week, these troops are experts in “discovering, clearing, and destroying terror tunnels”.

Also known as ‘weasels’, these specialist commandos were visited last month by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I rely on you, the people of Israel rely on you,” Netanyahu told the unit. The team itself comprises three units:

• The Yael or engineering unit
• Sayfan unit which handles weapons
• Samur troops who specialise in tunnel warfare.

The IDF website states, “… the unit is trained to deal with special engineering tasks that are unique to it, such as the underground and hidden terror tunnels as well as sabotage.” The unit is led by a colonel-rank officer. As per the IDF, the Yahalom’s missions include:

• Sabotage missions
• Demolition and explosion of buildings
• Sabotage of enemy infrastructure
• Handling explosives
• Preparing explosive devices and bombs
• Neutralising enemy explosive devices
• Clearing complex minefields
• Locating and destroying terror tunnels.

The forces also make use of robots and remote-controlled units to avoid putting human life at risk. Business Insider quoted the Yahalom Foundation – which comprises ex-soldiers from the force – as saying that enlistment is a ‘rigorous profile’. New recruits have to clear a medical exam and survive a four-day tryout. Then a “long and arduous” training program lasting 16 months follows. Soldiers are taught how to handle explosives and demolition, given training in combat engineering and counterterrorism, Krav Maga, and parachuting and repelling. [caption id=“attachment_13422952” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] As of Wednesday, the IDF has identified and destroyed 400 terror tunnel shafts in the Gaza Strip. Reuters[/caption] John Spencer of the Modern War Institute at elite US military academy West Point, told The Daily Beast Yahalom troops have been receiving “very professional training and education” on Hamas tunnels for years. He called the Yahalom unit as one of the world’s largest “that trains, mans, equips, experiments and develops new ways to deal with underground warfare.” Lieutenant General Mark Schwartz, who previously served as the United States Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, told the website how many troops are in the unit remains unclear. Schwartz added that it is unlikely, given their level of specialisation, that they are huge unit.

“Typically these specialised units are not large,” Schwartz added.

Spencer, laying out the challenge facing Yahalom, told The Daily Beast, The underground is “a very effective… way to hide your capability, protect your capability, and also use asymmetric means—as in not going toe to toe with the other military by using the underground to pop up and surprise attacks and pop back down and conserve your capability.” “That is a primary strategy of Hamas.” “These specialised units are going to be put in very risky situations,” Schwartz added. “But it’s all part of rooting out Hamas, and trying to find the hostages.” With inputs from agencies