Mideast Mediators Seek Anti-Tunnel Plan

Roni Bart, a retired Israeli army colonel and a research associate at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, said a Gaza barrier would cost far less and probably generate much less political controversy than the 456-mile-long security barrier -- which includes fences, roads and walls -- that Israel is building around much of the West Bank.

"It's nothing compared to that," he said. "Anything you can do to stop smuggling, by definition, weakens Hamas."

A senior Israeli official who briefed reporters on the military campaign did not rule out the possibility that Israel would attempt to construct an underground physical barrier along the Gaza-Egypt border.

"I cannot tell you the technical solutions" we are considering, the official said. "But this has to be taken care of and we have a better chance to do it now."

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Olmert, said Israel was open to any plans that would block Hamas from digging more tunnels.

"There are different ideas out there and the Israeli government is willing to hear the input of the international community," he said. "This is a crucial issue for Israel. Without some sort of effective mechanism to stop the flow of armaments, there can be no sustainable calm in the south."

Israeli officials and analysts said any cease-fire deal would hinge on cooperation from Egypt, as would construction of an underground barrier.

Israeli leaders have rejected cease-fire proposals that would involve sending international observers to Gaza, saying that such teams would be ineffective unless they had the authority to destroy tunnels or engage Hamas fighters.

"It's clear that we don't need monitors to tell us that 'today, 10 tons of armaments passed through the tunnels,' " Regev said. "We need a mechanism that will work, but what form that might take is fluid."

Egyptian officials haven't said whether they would allow foreign troops or monitors on their side of the border. But they have held talks in recent days with European diplomats and Hamas delegates.

Hamas has said that it will agree to a cease-fire only if Israel agrees to reopen border crossings from Gaza and end the blockade.

Officials with the Palestinian Authority, which holds power in the West Bank and is led by political rivals of Hamas, said they favor allowing international observers into Gaza as part of a truce. But they have been reluctant to endorse a plan that would give outsiders police powers and the authority to destroy tunnels.

"If you are talking about observers that will go and shut down tunnels, they are not really observers," Riad Malki, the Palestinian Authority foreign minister, told reporters Monday at the United Nations in New York.

Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, predicted that a solution would be elusive. He said few countries would be willing to send armed forces to Gaza. He also derided the idea of building a trench or underground wall, saying that smugglers would inevitably find a way around.

"It's just not practical," he said. "It would cost a lot of money. Who's going to pay for it? America?"

He said the most effective course would be to pressure Egypt -- which sees Hamas, an Islamist movement, as a political threat to its secular government -- to take action on its own against smugglers. "That's the only practical way," he said. "All the rest is wishful thinking."

Staff writer Glenn Kessler in Washington contributed to this report.