The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) will soon deploy a new sensory system along the Gaza Strip border that can detect tunneling activity at a distance in an effort to defend against terrorist infiltration, reports The Times of Israel.

Successfully tested earlier this year and described as an underground version of Israel's Iron Dome, the new tunneling detection system includes a series of sensors that will process and analyze information that will allow the precise identification of tunnel building without false alarms.

The use by terrorist groups like Hamas of the attack tunnels to infiltrate Israel was one of the justifications for Israel's ground invasion of Gaza during last summer's Operation Protective Edge.

By the end of the 50-day invasion, which began on July 17, more than 2,200 Palestinians, including 50 children, had been killed and 64 Israeli soldiers and seven Israeli civilians died as well, according to Newsweek.

Destroying the tunnel threat was one of Israel's goals during the summer's military campaign and while a majority were demolished, IDF Southern Command head General Sami Turgeman contended in early April that Hamas had resumed building, reports Arutz Sheva.

London's Telegraph newspaper also reported earlier this month that Iran has transferred millions of dollars to Hamas to assist in the rebuilding of the tunnels and for other purposes.

The revolutionary defense system, which was developed by the director of research and development in the Defense Ministry in cooperation with Israeli industries, is expected to be fully deployed once government approval is obtained and funds allotted, The Times reports.

The estimated cost of constructing the system is $3.5 million per mile and the government hopes to construct the system along the entire 35-mile land border between Gaza and Israel, according to The Washington Free Beacon.

In 2005 and 2006, Israeli intelligence and defense agencies experienced test failures of two systems that were tested, so the defense firms started over.

"We have been dealing with this for many years and there really are very few industries that engage in this due to a lack of ground infrastructure or financial incentive," a source told The Jerusalem Post in January before the first successful test.

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