IDF soldiers uncover a smuggling tunnel near Gaza. Photo: wiki commons.

Israel recently discovered two tunnels underneath its West Bank security barrier barrier near the Taybeh village in Samaria, Maariv reports.

Soldiers spotted two Arabs trying to enter Israel through the tunnels, but their motive could not be determined as they fled before they were caught.

Tunnels from Egypt into Gaza have been used for some time to smuggle anything from weapons to building materials. Thus far, however, tunnels from the West Bank into Israel have been rare.

According to Maariv, Israeli officials fear that Hamas cells in the West Bank could use tunnels to kidnap Israeli citizens to hold hostage and exchange for Palestinian Arab convicts, much in the same way Hamas in Gaza did with famed captive Gilad Shalit.