United States-Israel Anti-Tunnel Cooperation Act

Bill: 118-s-4285
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Peters, Gary C. [D-MI]
Introduced: 2024-05-08
Policy area: International Affairs
Latest action: action_date: 2024-05-08
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Summaries:

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4285 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 8, 2024 Mr. Peters (for himself and Mr. Budd ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 to improve cooperation between the United States and Israel on anti-tunnel defense capabilities.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the United States-Israel Anti-Tunnel Cooperation Act . 2. Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) Israel is an international leader in developing innovative defense technologies, including by pioneering efforts to map, detect, destroy, and maneuver through terror tunnels. (2) Terrorist organizations on Israel’s borders, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), with Iran’s help, have constructed a labyrinth of subterranean passages under the Gaza Strip and areas of southern Lebanon to improve their military capabilities as well as to attack and kidnap Israeli soldiers and civilians. (3) Since October 7, 2023, over 1,500 new terror tunnel shafts, approximately 350 to 450 miles long, built under hospitals, schools, and homes in Gaza have been discovered, with over 5,700 entrance points. (4) In the Gaza Strip, Hamas intentionally uses civilians as human shields by placing its underground tunnel network beneath densely populated areas, connecting its terror infrastructure to schools, hospitals, and mosques. (5) Tunnels in Gaza and Lebanon are used as underground rocket manufacturing and launching sites, weapons caches, bunkers, transportation networks, and command and control centers. (6) United States and Israeli intelligence indicates that Hamas’s military leadership is both sheltering in the subterranean tunnel network and using it to hold innocent Israeli hostages. (7) The United States faces similar subterranean threats on the Korean Peninsula, the southern border, and in various theaters in the Middle East. (8) Israel shares its anti-tunnel technology with the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security, which work to advance this technology further, enhancing the United States’ ability to deal with this growing threat on at the border and around the world. (9) Since October 7, 2023, there is an increased need to scale up bilateral cooperation on anti-tunneling efforts as a reflection of the complexity of the subterranean terror reality in Gaza revealed since the start of Israel’s military campaign. (10) Such an increase in joint United States-Israel cooperation will not only benefit Israel, but will also help the United States and allies across the globe that face similar challenges from subterranean tunnels. 3. Modification of annual limitation on amount available for United States-Israel anti-tunnel cooperation Section 1279(b)(4) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 ( 22 U.S.C. 8606 note) is amended by striking $50,000,000 and inserting $80,000,000 .