Direct proof of use
Tunnel-entrance booby-trap improvised explosive devices were documented in the 2023 Israel-Hamas War through Israeli military reporting on Gaza tunnel routes and later military analysis of tunnel-clearance operations. The IDF reported that soldiers from the 98th Division entered an underground tunnel in Khan Yunis where hostages had been held and found the entrance booby-trapped, with explosives, sliding doors, and blast doors inside the route.
A separate IDF report in May 2025 said troops from the Southern Gaza Brigade and Yahalom combat engineers dismantled an underground tunnel route in the southern Gaza Strip that stretched several hundred meters and had multiple exit shafts, some of which were booby-trapped.
Sources: IDF Khan Yunis Rigged Tunnel, IDF Southern Gaza Booby-Trapped Shafts
Operational context
The devices formed part of the subterranean hazard set facing Israeli units once the ground campaign entered Gaza. Modern War Institute analysis described Hamas booby traps outside and inside tunnels as pervasive, including improvised explosive devices embedded in tunnel walls, and connected the hazard to the IDF practice of securing shafts before Yahalom teams investigated them.
The U.S. Army's Gaza lessons article describes tunnel detection and investigation as dangerous because entrances were hidden and could be protected by booby traps, enemy observation, and fire. It says explosive ordnance disposal teams handled hazards around entrances before cameras, Yahalom teams, military working dogs, and unmanned ground vehicles were used to inspect tunnel interiors and obstacles.
Sources: Modern War Institute Gaza Tunnel Warfare, U.S. Army Gaza Subterranean Lessons
Pattern of employment
The documented role was area denial and attrition around access points rather than a standardized factory weapon. Tunnel entrances and shafts forced clearing units to stop, secure the surface site, inspect for explosives, and decide whether to enter, map, seal, or destroy a route.
The cited cases show use by Hamas and Gaza-based armed groups in Khan Yunis and southern Gaza tunnel networks. The sources support booby-trapped entrances and shafts as a recurring tunnel-clearance hazard, but they do not identify a single common device design, trigger type, or production series.
Sources: IDF Khan Yunis Rigged Tunnel, IDF Southern Gaza Booby-Trapped Shafts, Modern War Institute Gaza Tunnel Warfare, U.S. Army Gaza Subterranean Lessons
