[News in War History] Israel's 'Border Wall' Easily Breached... Why Defense Is More Difficult

1.5 Trillion Won Wall Collapses Instantly
The Great Wall of China Breached Multiple Times Since Ancient Times
Despite Advanced Technology, 'Soldiers' Remain Crucial

The armed faction in the Gaza Strip, Hamas, has broken through Israel's border barrier and invaded the border area, massacring civilians, sparking global outrage. As Israel has launched a large-scale ground operation to eradicate Hamas, there are growing concerns about a massive number of civilian casualties.

In particular, security concerns have intensified as it was revealed that the border barrier, which the Israeli government installed across the Gaza Strip and border area in 2021 at a huge cost of $1.1 billion (approximately 1.5 trillion KRW), was easily breached. Criticism has been mounting that Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad, renowned for its world-class intelligence capabilities, as well as the Israeli military, have significant gaps in their intelligence and security capabilities.

Until now, the Israeli government had promoted the border barrier as a 'smart barrier' armed with advanced unmanned systems such as surveillance cameras, infrared detectors, and automatic machine guns. However, during this battle, footage showing the smart barrier being easily destroyed by civilian bulldozers brought in by Hamas operatives shocked the Israeli public.

Military experts worldwide agree that the Israeli military has overly relied on the border barrier for border security, emphasizing that no matter how advanced unmanned systems become, the core of security is soldiers. Consequently, this incident is expected to significantly impact the security strategies of other countries preparing to introduce smart barrier systems at their borders. In this article, we will discuss Israel’s smart barrier and explore several historically powerful defensive walls that, despite their reputation, were breached more easily than expected.

◆News: Israel’s 'Smart Barrier' Collapses Just Two Years After Installation

The Israeli border barbed wire damaged by a rocket attack from the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on the 8th (local time). [Image source=AP·Yonhap News]

First, let’s look at the news. According to the Israeli local media Times of Israel on the 11th (local time), the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) revealed that during Hamas’s invasion of Israel on the 7th, 29 out of 65 kilometers of the border barrier were breached by Hamas, allowing Hamas militants to launch surprise attacks.

The barrier, completed in December 2021 and announced by the Israeli government, collapsed in less than two years, causing even greater shock. Known as the 'Iron Wall,' this border barrier encircles the entire border area with the Gaza Strip. It was constructed over three and a half years with more than $1.1 billion invested, equipped with numerous surveillance cameras, radars, automatic machine guns, and sensors capable of detecting tunnels. At the time of completion, the Israeli government heavily promoted it as a smart barrier capable of perfectly defending against Hamas invasions.

However, on the 7th, Hamas revealed footage showing the barrier being easily destroyed by bulldozers. The Hamas forces first disabled the communication network around the border barrier, then neutralized it at 29 key points using bulldozers, bombs, rocket launchers, and even by gliding over the barrier with hang gliders, according to the IDF.

◆History 1: The Great Wall of China, Breached More Often Than Its Fame Suggests

The Paldalryeong section of the Great Wall of China near Beijing, China. [Image source=China Great Wall Museum]

Historically, the concept of such border barriers originated with the Great Wall of China. Today designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Great Wall is commonly believed to have been built by Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇), the first emperor who unified China. However, it was actually constructed over several centuries starting from the Warring States period.

Karl Wittfogel, a renowned German sinologist, argued in his 1957 book Oriental Despotism that the Great Wall was a product of the so-called 'hydraulic society' that shaped Chinese agrarian culture. This theory posits that Chinese civilization, born in a semi-arid region along a great river, developed a powerful bureaucratic and despotic monarchy through water control projects.

According to Wittfogel, the sections of the Great Wall are all located in areas with annual rainfall below 400mm, marking the limits of agriculture supported by irrigation canals. North of the Great Wall lived nomadic peoples, and the wall was built to prevent their periodic invasions.

Despite its fame, the Great Wall was breached multiple times. Since the early 4th century during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, northern nomadic invasions repeatedly penetrated the wall more easily than expected. The wall was also breached during the Tang dynasty in the 9th century and the Song dynasty in the 12th century. During the Ming-Qing transition in the 17th century, the Ming concentrated all forces on the Great Wall defense line but failed to suppress peasant rebellions in the rear, leading to the fall of the Ming and allowing Qing forces to enter through the Great Wall.

In the last battle where the Great Wall functioned as a border defense, the 1932 Battle of the Great Wall, it was easily breached by Japanese forces who destroyed several gates, opening the way for Japan’s continental invasion. Subsequently, the Chinese army broke the Yellow River dikes to stop the Japanese invasion, causing tens of millions of deaths.

The reason the Great Wall failed to effectively stop enemies was that the defense line was too long and lacked rear defenses. Unlike Korea, where mountain ranges continue southward, the terrain from the Great Wall down to north of the Yellow River is a vast plain, making defense difficult. Thus, breaching the section north of Beijing could quickly hand over the North China Plain to the enemy.

◆History 2: Belgium’s 'Little Maginot Line' Unable to Anticipate Airborne Assault

The remains of the Eben Emael fortress defense line, known as the "Little Maginot Line," which served as the defense line along the Belgium-Germany border during World War II.
[Image source: Eben Emael Fortress Museum]

Such border barriers being breached unexpectedly also occurred in modern warfare. A representative case is the Eben Emael fortress defense line, an 8 km-long defense line Belgium built along its border with Germany in 1940.

This defense line was constructed by Belgium as an alternative to extending the Maginot Line into Belgian territory, which France opposed before World War II. It was a very strong fortress with thick outer walls, various cannons and machine guns, and shelters extending 40 meters underground. The Belgian government was confident it could not be easily breached by any ground assault, expecting to hold out for at least a day even against Germany’s powerful armored units.

However, it was surprisingly captured in actual combat. German airborne troops descended from the sky, destroying key turrets and bunkers, while the defenders inside the fortress were unable to respond effectively, leading to the fortress’s rapid neutralization and capture. The Belgian forces were caught off guard by the shift in battlefield paradigms, focusing only on ground defense.

Although the fortress and defense walls were very strong, it was difficult for the bunkers in each section to operate cohesively, and there were few exits for soldiers to leave the main fortress, leaving them helpless against airborne troops. The fortress also lacked proper siege artillery to counter enemy fighter planes and bombers.

Post-war analyses criticized the overreliance on the fortress’s strength. While at least 1,200 troops were supposed to be stationed, only about 650 were deployed at the start of the war, making it easier to fall.

◆Implication: Ultimately, 'Soldiers' Are the Most Important in War

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

In the end, these massive defensive walls, despite their reputation and expectations of strength, were breached far too easily throughout history. No matter how advanced technology becomes or how sophisticated the weapons used to fortify defenses are, these cases remind us that the most important factor in war is manpower ? soldiers.

The Israeli military has acknowledged its grave mistake in allowing Hamas’s invasion and indicated it will overhaul the strategies of intelligence and security agencies, which had become overly dependent on advanced equipment.

Especially as Israel’s smart barrier was breached so easily, countries planning to introduce similar systems in their border areas are greatly unsettled. South Korea, which was considering deploying a smart barrier system along the Demilitarized Zone fence, is also facing calls to revise its strategy. Not only Israel but also South Korea and militaries worldwide are expected to take this smart barrier collapse as a lesson.