Neutralizing a Tunnel

Loitering around DefenseTech, I caught a story about how Israel is trying to collapse or fill up underground tunnels that have been dug beneath the Gaza Strip for smuggling weapons. From a strategic point of view, it's understandable that Israel would want to get rid of such tunnels. The Defense Tech blogpost quotes a DefenseNews article by Barbara Opall-Rome, and apparently the Palestinian Authority has taken responsibility for destroying some of the tunnels themselves--and with a little more gusto:

Since late January, when the Palestine Authority assumed responsibility for security in Rafah, Palestinian security forces have uncovered and destroyed two arms-smuggling tunnels. In at least one of those instances, local security officials filled the tunnel with raw sewage. "When we go in and destroy tunnels, it's sometimes only a matter of time until the debris is cleared and the tunnel is reopened for business. But they filled the tunnel with [excrement], which totally clogged all the air holes for breathing. That tunnel won't be used foryears," an IDF officer said.

So the PA has actually done a more effective job than all the expensive mechanical processes the Israelis use (which are the main subject of the article)---but at what cost to an already beleagured water table? 
¶ posted by Saheli | 10:47 AM