Sponge Bomb, No Pants: Can Novel Israeli Weapon Thwart Hamas Tunnel Warfare?

Israeli forces may end up using a new innovative weapon to deal with the Hamas network of tunnels hidden beneath the Gaza Strip.

A network of tunnels constructed beneath the Gaza Strip by Hamas has become a real headache for the invading Israeli troops as Hamas militants actively use these underground passageways to both take shelter from Israeli air raids and launch lightning strikes where the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) least expect them.

The Israeli military may soon start deploying a new weapon that could be used to plug the entrances to these tunnels, if recent media reports are to be believed.

The so-called “sponge bombs” are essentially plastic containers filled with two chemical compounds separated by a partition. When the partition is removed, the compounds mix and proceed to rapidly expand and solidify, thus allowing them to quickly block a relatively narrow passage such as, for example, a Hamas tunnel entrance.

Graphics depicting an Israeli 'Sponge Bomb' at work sealing tunnels

© Photo : The Daily Mail

While using such “bombs” to seal tunnels may seem safer than using conventional explosives as it eliminates the risk of a cave-in that could endanger the demolition crew itself, this does not necessarily make them the perfect tool for this task, explained Yuri Lyamin, a military analyst and senior researcher at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies.

“They do not destroy the tunnel. While we do not know the exact formula of the compound involved, it still must be somehow destroyed afterwards and the previously blocked space can thus be unblocked,” he explained.

The deployment of “sponge bombs” may also turn out to be a tad complicated, seeing how these bombs “won’t make it into tunnels by themselves.”

Graphics depicting the work of an Israeli 'Sponge Bomb' sealing the tunnels.

© Photo : The Telegraph

“If you have to ‘detonate’ them somewhere deep down in a tunnel, you would have to deliver these bombs there. In any case, people would have to make their way into tunnels, because if they do not, you can only plug entrances,” Lyamin explained. “But there can be a lot of entrances. Each tunnel there likely has a lot of secondary exits.”

Therefore, the analyst argued, Hamas could counter the use of “sponge bombs” by the IDF by a) attacking the Israeli teams that would attempt to deploy such bombs and b) digging additional entrances to their tunnels.

“Somebody needs to go and plant the ‘bomb,’ and when they do, they would be vulnerable. Besides, if all this takes place in a tunnel, there are other possibilities. When somebody carries a ‘bomb’ in a tunnel, they can trip booby traps or explosive charges planted by Hamas,” Lyamin speculated.

He also pointed out that it is difficult to gauge the effectiveness of the “sponge bombs” at this time, seeing how this weapon is yet to be used on the battlefield.