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#343 | 地下战争：以色列与哈马斯的残酷对抗
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这篇新闻报道介绍了以色列希望利用技术来对抗哈马斯的地下隧道。哈马斯在加沙地带建造了一个庞大的地下网络，其中包括指挥中心、武器库和食品燃料储存。以色列军队试图摧毁这些隧道，以实现摧毁哈马斯的目标。报道讨论了以色列使用的各种技术，包括无人机、卫星雷达、地质雷达、声学检测和地下光纤网络等。以色列还使用特殊炸弹和化学物质来封堵和破坏隧道，并使用钻机和无人机进入隧道。这场地下战争对双方来说都是残酷的挑战。
The “gaza metro” is nothing if not formidable. The network of tunnels built by Hamas beneath the enclave is hundreds of kilometres long. It houses command centres, weapons dumps and stores of food and fuel. It gives Hamas’s fighters the ability to ambush Israeli troops, and to shelter from bombs and artillery.“加沙地铁”无疑是一项艰巨的工程。哈马斯在加沙地带建造的隧道网络长达数百公里。里面设有指挥中心、武器库和食品燃料仓库。这使得哈马斯的战士们能够伏击以色列军队，并在炸弹和炮火下寻求庇护。
Israel’s stated goal is to destroy Hamas. Its troops, which entered Gaza on October 27th, are therefore trying to attack and destroy the tunnels. On November 8th Israel said it had destroyed 130 already. But subterranean fighting is notoriously hard and lethal work. The Israel Defence Forces (idf) will be using a variety of technology to help its soldiers with the task.以色列的目标是摧毁哈马斯。因此，他们于10月27日进入加沙，试图攻击和摧毁这些隧道。据以色列于11月8日表示，他们已经摧毁了130个隧道。但地下战斗被广泛认为是艰难而危险的工作。以色列国防军（IDF）将利用各种技术来帮助士兵完成这个任务。
The first job is to find the tunnels. Israel’s network of spies in Gaza has dwindled since it withdrew in 2005, says Michael Milshtein, a reservist idf colonel. Surveillance drones are one alternative. They can detect “patterns of life” that give clues as to where the entrances are. Imagine, says Robert Cardillo, a former director of America’s National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, if 20 people enter a small structure and no one comes out for 24 hours.首要任务是找到这些隧道。以色列在加沙的间谍网络自2005年以来大幅减少，据预备役军官迈克尔·米尔什坦（Michael Milshtein）说。监视无人机是一个替代方案。它们可以探测到“生活模式”，从而提供有关入口位置的线索。想象一下，美国国家地理空间情报局前局长罗伯特·卡迪洛（Robert Cardillo）说，如果有那么一个建筑，20个人同时进入，且24小时内没人出来。
Satellites are useful, too. Modern satellite radar can detect surface-height variations on the order of millimetres. That is enough to spot the subtle surface disturbances caused by tunnelling—though Joel Roskin, a geomorphologist who analysed tunnel networks during his time in the idf, notes that the rubble produced by Israel’s bombardment of Gaza will have made that sort of analysis harder.现代卫星雷达可以探测到毫米级别的地表高度变化。这足以发现由隧道挖掘引起的细微地表扰动。然而，分析过加沙地下隧道网络的地貌学家乔尔·罗斯金指出，以色列对加沙的轰炸所产生的碎石可能会增加这种分析的难度。
Troops can also use ground-penetrating radar, which can detect voids up to 30 metres beneath the surface in ideal conditions. But Gaza’s coastal, saline soils are far from ideal. In practice, detection ranges are limited to a handful of metres. The technology, says Dr Roskin, has proved “unreliable” in the past.部队还可以使用地下探测雷达，在理想条件下可以探测到地表以下30米的空洞。但是加沙的沿海盐碱土壤并不理想。实际上，探测范围被限制在几米之内。罗斯金博士表示，这项技术在过去被证明是“不可靠”的。
Acoustic detection can do better. Amir Avivi, a former deputy commander of the idf’s Gaza Division, says vibration sensors can detect the digging of a new tunnel, though they are less useful at finding ones that already exist. Those can be spotted instead with ground-based sonar. Like its maritime counterpart, this involves sending out sound waves (often by hammering on a metal plate) and listening for echoes. Pinging the underworld in this way, says Carey Rappaport, a computer scientist at Northeastern University in Massachusetts, can reveal tunnels 100 metres down.声波探测可以有更好的效果。以色列国防军加沙地区前副指挥官阿米尔·阿维维表示，振动传感器可以探测到新隧道的挖掘，但在寻找已存在的隧道方面则不那么有用。相反，可以使用基于地面的声纳来发现这些隧道。就像海洋中的声纳一样，这种技术涉及发送声波（通常通过敲打金属板）并倾听回波。麻省东北大学的计算机科学家凯里·拉帕波特表示，通过这种方式探测地下世界可以揭示100米深的隧道。
Even fancier technologies exist. Buried fibre-optic networks can detect underground vibrations by the “backscatter” they cause in the photons travelling through the cables. Sintela, a British seller of such technology, is mum on the specifics, but its system, branded Onyx, is used on America’s southern border. Tunnels can even be revealed by detecting tiny decreases in gravitational pull caused by their voids. Silicon Microgravity, a British startup, aims to develop, by the end of next year, a gravimeter sensitive enough for the task.还有更高级的技术存在。埋藏的光纤网络可以通过光子在电缆中传输时引起的“反向散射”来探测地下振动。一家名为Sintela的英国技术销售商并没谈到具体细节，但他们的系统Onyx用在了美国南部边境。甚至可以通过探测由隧道空洞引起的微小重力差来揭示隧道的存在。一家名为Silicon Microgravity的英国初创公司计划在明年年底之前开发出足够敏感的重力仪器来完成这项任务。
Once a tunnel has been discovered, the next step is to disable or destroy it. With relatively shallow tunnels that can be done from the air, using “bunker-buster” bombs that penetrate the ground before detonating. But Hamas’s tactic of digging tunnels beneath civilian infrastructure means that such strikes can kill many civilian bystanders. The idf, for instance, claims that some of Hamas’s leaders are holed up in a tunnel network beneath the al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s biggest.一旦发现了隧道，下一步就是使其失效或摧毁。对于相对浅的隧道，可以通过空中操作使用“穿透地面再引爆”的炸弹来实现。但是哈马斯挖掘隧道并将其建在民用基础设施下的策略意味着这类袭击可能会导致许多平民丧生。以色列国防军声称，哈马斯的一些领导人藏身在加沙最大的阿尔希法医院地下的隧道网络中。
Egypt, which controls Gaza’s southern border, has in the past flooded smuggling tunnels used by Hamas with sewage. Israel has poured concrete into tunnels during earlier conflicts. But hauling in enough is probably impractical in the present war, reckons one American military official.控制加沙南部边境的埃及过去曾用污水淹没哈马斯使用的走私隧道。以色列在早前冲突中曾向隧道注入混凝土。但是一名美国军官认为，在当前的战争中，运送足够的混凝土可能是不切实际的。
An Israeli security official says the idf will be making use of “sponge bombs”. These contain chemicals that, when mixed, expand into a dense, hard foam, blocking off the tunnel and buying time for a proper demolition with explosives later on. Sponge bombs are also used in a tactic known as “purple hair”. A smoke grenade is thrown into a tunnel before a sponge bomb seals the entrance. If the trapped smoke wafts out of a nearby building, that suggests it conceals another entrance.一位以色列安全官员表示，以色列国防军将使用“海绵炸弹”。这些炸弹含有化学物质，混合后会膨胀成密实坚硬的泡沫，封堵隧道并为后续的爆破拆除争取时间。海绵炸弹还被用于一种被称为“紫发”的战术。在将海绵炸弹封住入口之前，将一颗紫色烟雾弹扔进隧道。如果被困的烟雾从附近的建筑物中飘出来，那就意味着该建筑可能隐藏着另一个入口。
Sometimes, though, soldiers will need to enter the tunnels. Drilling rigs can make new entrances to avoid booby-traps set at existing ones. Elbit Systems, an Israeli firm, has developed an armed quadcopter that uses computer vision to fly in enclosed spaces. Other drones can roll through tunnels and climb stairs.然而，有时士兵们需要进入隧道。钻孔设备可以开辟新的入口，避免在现有入口设置的诱爆陷阱。以色列公司Elbit Systems已经开发出一种装备武器的四旋翼无人机，利用计算机视觉在封闭空间中飞行。其他无人机可以在隧道中滚动并爬楼梯。
Both sides are in for a brutal fight. Hamas will be hoping that its tunnels will help it compensate for the idf’s overwhelming advantage in firepower. The Israelis, meanwhile, will hope their technology can transform those same tunnels from a refuge into a trap.双方都将面临残酷的战斗。哈马斯希望通过隧道来弥补以色列国防军在火力上的压倒优势。与此同时，以色列人希望他们的技术能将这些隧道从避难所变成陷阱。
来源: The Economist
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