The IDF's S-2 special engineering platoon has shifted direction since October 7, 2023, from disposing of explosives to locating, mapping, and destroying strategic tunnels in the Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon, said platoon commander Lt. Col. D in an interview with Walla.
D. described how the massive blast doors at the entrance to the tunnels were removed, how dozens of trucks carrying explosives were brought in overnight into an area swarming with terrorists and drones, what lies behind the tunnel network built by the Iranians, and why he is convinced the IDF's operation must not stop now.
"When you have that 'eureka' moment, the moment you find the tunnel, the moment of success and cracking the riddle, it is like a bride on her wedding day," D. said. "I am telling you, when I hit the tunnel exactly in the town of Majdal Zoun in southern Lebanon, I screamed. We all screamed with joy. We searched for that tunnel for five days."
Moments after discovery, the second stage of destroying the tunnels begins, and it is no less complex and challenging.
"This was a significant tunnel. Crazy. Iranian. Three meters high by three and a half meters wide. It is not the Carmel Tunnels, but compared to others, it is a wide tunnel. Comfortable. Also in terms of breathing and access," explained D.
The entrance to the tunnel is not made through its original door, as it may be booby-trapped or, in some cases, destroyed during Israel Air Force strikes on the sites.
"Imagine that in this case the tunnel floor, at a depth of one meter, was full of steel as a result of an Air Force strike, more than a year earlier," he said. "Some of the steel fell from the ceiling and walls, and we had to clear all of it to get inside. After that, you have to deal with moving through the tunnel and four blast doors, each weighing five to seven tons, and they collapse and fly off."
"We had to move into an operation of stripping the heavy doors to create access to the rest of the tunnel. That is the greatness of Yahalom; it provides a solution to complex operational problems," D. said.
D. did not elaborate on how the heavy blast doors were removed from the tunnel, but said that specially acquired solutions were integrated for the operation, including small engineering equipment far from the Israel-Lebanon border and deep inside enemy territory underground.
In other, smaller tunnels, the unit had to operate while crouching and in more complex conditions.
As soldiers advance and clear the tunnels, the stage marks a sharp transition from joy to the operation's lowest point.
"When you scan the tunnel, you see food and water, and then urine bottles. Bags in which the terrorists did all their needs, spoiled food, and expired food. You can imagine it is like entering a grave with piles of giant flies and a crazy smell; you can go crazy," D. described. "After the routes are cleared of terrorists and explosives, all the soldiers enter the tunnels with face protection and white suits, because these tunnels contain all kinds of things that can harm the skin and breathing."
Beyond what is unfolding deep underground, an operational safety net is deployed above ground, with a special rescue and extraction team from Yahalom on standby in case immediate evacuation from deep inside the tunnel is needed.
"I personally approve the preparations and the methods of action of the special rescue team," D. said. "The team specializes not only in underground warfare, but also in climbing, rappelling, and rescue, with special ropes and winches."
"The soldiers in Yahalom know how to handle explosives, clear bombs, operate robots and drones, but also how to mathematically calculate the weight of a soldier and what needs to be done accordingly in order to extract them."
"This is not just waving a finger and seeing where the wind blows. It is a heavy responsibility. Seeing the tunnel rescue drill with your own eyes is crazy," the commander explained.
After the mapping and clearing comes the climax of the operation: destroying the tunnel.
This stage includes an enormous engineering and operational challenge: transporting hundreds of tons of explosives deep into enemy territory while soldiers are exposed to anti-tank threats, drones, and the watchful eyes of Hezbollah terrorists in the area.
"Imagine that one night, 140 trucks enter from Israel loaded with 84 tons of 'special material,' and 50 soldiers unload it again in one night. At first they thought it would take four days. But the soldiers did it with determination, running from one end of the truck to the other end of the tunnel, all night."
"I am excited to talk about it. It gives a lot of spirit. Soldiers know what they are destroying. They know what the terrorists did while using this tunnel and why it has to be destroyed," D. emphasized.
S-2: Living laboratory of underground warfare
In this war, the soldiers of S-2 are no longer just an engineering unit but have become a living laboratory of underground warfare, with their own code language and centers of expertise specializing in mapping complex tunnel networks.
Today, they lead the operational concept of the entire security establishment in the subterranean dimension.
"We have long since stopped looking at Hezbollah tunnels as a single engineering component, and instead see them as a system of 'assets.' Take, for example, the tunnel in Majdal Zoun," he said. "It was a 538-meter route that was destroyed. It was a strategic asset that stored weapons and included a workshop for assembling drones for Hezbollah's Unit 127 Air Unit. That is their strategy, separating the underground assets."
According to D., Hezbollah's tunnel network is broad and varied.
"There are tunnels dug in the mountains over kilometers. Some serve as command centers collecting the cameras placed above ground from which Hezbollah runs the fighting against us. Others are used as quick launch points, and others are intended for observation," he said.
What they all have in common, D. explained, is that they are built for prolonged stays underground.
"All of them are built as long-stay sites with beds, mattresses and food supplies, some of which will last for months. From dates to canned goods. They have almost everything there: water jugs, electrical infrastructure, generators and even solar panels," the platoon commander said. "Inside this world are their most valuable assets. We know exactly what they are and where they are located. Some are positioned at heights that overlook our communities."
"Hezbollah responded to our activity in real time," he added. "We saw tunnels being repurposed from one function to another, because we took tunnels from them and destroyed them, or new openings they dug in place of those the Air Force blocked in strikes."
"They are fighting underground. The tunnels are not just bunkers; they are launch points for rockets, anti-tank missiles, and drones. That is why most of the tunnels we located have several openings, each with a different operational role," D. went on.
"Hezbollah also rushed to empty tunnels of weapons as soon as they understood that we were on our way to them. In one tunnel we found eight tons of explosives and 50 drones. This is a reduction of capability, but for research purposes."
Regarding the network's structure, D. explained that it is not continuous, as one might have thought at the start of the ground maneuver.
"The tunnels today are fragmented," he said. "I believe that in their worldview they would have aspired to connect everything in order to allow uninterrupted movement from one end to the other, but this fragmentation has an operational logic."
"Once we find one route, that does not guarantee that we have exposed the second. Despite that advantage for them, I am convinced that their strategic aspiration is to create one large, complete network, one that in their view is resistant to airstrikes."
The platoon commander also said that Hezbollah and Iranian engineers invested in planning and execution to hide the tunnel locations and their entrances.
"For us, each such tunnel, each asset, is an operational space in every sense, one that allows them to attack our communities or observe and strike the approach routes from Israel into Lebanon or the ascent to the ridges in Lebanon," he said. "They made sure to build it in a way that dominates the area. Now we are here."
"Therefore, I think we are very, very close to hitting Hezbollah very hard, because we are sitting right on its nerve center, and when we complete this mission it will not just be a flesh wound, it will be a significant blow very soon," he said.
The path to dismantling Hezbollah's terror infrastructure runs through decades of accumulated experience.
Locating Hezbollah's tunnels is 'painstaking work'
"Every tunnel is a puzzle, and our ability to find it includes many layers of intelligence. Sometimes they only point to an area, and we have to search and find it. Sometimes we survey the terrain with drones or boots on the ground. There are moments when we cross-reference many details, such as sector history, movement of operatives, and unusual details," D. explained. "It is really painstaking work. Today our tools are very advanced. As a team commander a decade ago, I had only a map and transparencies. Today we receive tools that a regular battalion does not have and rely on divisional capabilities."
Destroying the tunnels does not end with isolated explosions, part of a strategic IDF effort that includes neutralizing the underground advantage built by the Iranians and Hezbollah since 2006.
The cumulative achievement so far makes clear that, for Hezbollah, the tunnels have become death traps within a matter of months.
"I think we have hurt it severely. We destroyed entire branches for it. We are sitting on several of their very important assets, the more significant ones. We are grinding them down, and all I hope is that they will allow us to keep pushing forward, as far forward as possible."
"We are in a crazy moment, on the edge of all kinds of things," he said. "Do not stop us. Let us destroy everything they built there. The real achievement will be determined in the end. Only then will it be decided whether we turned off their switches."
"And for my soldiers? I want them to remember the unit's determination. That we are operating in all kinds of places. In a thousand efforts. If I could tell you how many places I have been during this period, let us call it all over the globe, the places I have stepped in. Look at the impact this unit has," he concluded.