The pre-dawn raid in which Corporal Gilad Shilat was captured was made possible by a 300 metre tunnel dug from within Gaza.

Palestinians have used tunnelling for years to smuggle contraband weapons, drugs, cigarettes and messages beneath the Israeli-Egyptian border into the Gaza Strip.

The entrances to the network of secret tunnels can often be housed inside an average family home. While originally the tunnels would have been used by those connected with organised crime, there are now entire Palestinian families who specialise in the trade.

Dug from basements of houses, they can be 15 metres deep and can run for 800 metres.

Many residents are given no choice but to allow the tunnel to be built from inside their home. Some fall into the trade out of desperate need for money.

It is high risk work. Men can succumb to suffocation should they become trapped, or even electrocution.

According to local media reports, the Weapons Systems and Infrastructure Development Authority has received more than 100 suggestions on how to cope with tunnels in the Gaza Strip in recent years.

Israel has made many attempts to stop the tunnels using explosives and bulldozers to fill and destroy them.

The Israeli Army uses intelligence gathering as the main method for locating tunnels. Some can be years old, and up to one tonne of explosives are needed to completely destroy it. But many lie undetected.

The tunnel used to conduct the raid in which Corporal Shilat was abducted was very long, reaching from inside Gaza to 300m (980ft) beyond the Israeli fence that seals off the Palestinian strip.

There has been a recurring debate over whether the attack stemmed from an intelligence failure by the army. A soldier injured during a pre-dawn raid on the army post claimed the fighters had received prior intelligence of a possible attack.

Corporal Roee Amitai, 19, who is recovering in hospital, has told how his unit was informed of a tunnel being dug into Israel.

"It was not a secret: we knew there is a warning about a tunnel 400 metres in Gaza and 200 metres in Israel," he told ynet news. "There are always warnings, also about a cell preparing for an attack. They told us to stay alert."

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