The IDF has completed the construction of the underground concrete wall between Israel and the Gaza Strip, as part of the effort to prevent terrorists from crossing into Israel via cross-border tunnels.

The concrete wall is just one component in the 60 km.-long barrier, which also includes a fence above the ground, advanced sensors both above and underground, and cutting-edge technologies meant to tackle the tunnel threat and stop terrorist infiltrations.

Senior IDF sources told The Jerusalem Post that almost 95% of the barrier has been completed, and that it will be operational in the near future.

Hamas is believed to have a complex underground tunnel system throughout the Gaza Strip, which will be used to attack Israeli soldiers in a future ground battle inside the Strip. As a result, the IDF is preparing its soldiers for a combination of above-ground and below-ground warfare.

The Engineering Corps’s elite Yahalom Unit and others are said to have learned from IDF experiences, and are believed to master all the necessary skills to control the underground sphere.

This development comes as the IDF’s Southern Command and 162nd Division recently completed preparations and a series of exercises ahead of a possible confrontation with Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip.