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Israel to plant trees to protect against Hamas missiles

The planting comes as a result of an inquiry conducted over the May incident in which a Kornet anti-tank guided missile killed an Israeli near Gaza.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s defense establishment intends to begin planting trees close to homes in Israeli localities near the Gaza Strip as a means of providing protection from Palestinian anti-tank fire, according to Israel’s Channel 13.

Over recent days, senior military officers have been touring the area and mapping out the communities where such a threat exists in order to be better able to decide where the planting should take place.

This move, says the report, is being taken as part of the conclusions reached from an inquiry conducted over the incident in which a man was killed in May by a Kornet anti-tank guided missile as he drove on a road near the Gaza border.

In November, a Hamas missile struck a bus near the border.

Tree planting is not the only measure being taken, reports Channel 13. At the same time, it says, an underground barrier is being constructed. Installing increased armored protection around communities is also part of the plan.

The IDF recently reported the discovery of a terror tunnel from Gaza as it was working on the underground barrier. The military says that it was the 18th tunnel discovered in the area since Israel’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza in the summer of 2014.

Protective work along the road where the motorist was killed in May has begun already, says Channel 13. A three-meter high wall has been constructed from a kibbutz in the area to the road. A new access road to Kibbutz Netiv Ha’asara is also being built to a safer entry point.

Until now, members of the kibbutz were prevented from coming home through the main entrance during times of attacks because it was too exposed to enemy fire.

Plans for protecting a train that travels on a bridge near the Gazan border are also under discussion, Channel 13 reports.