An elderly squatter who spent 50 years building an underground labyrinthine cave home on Israel's coast is facing eviction, according to authorities.

The country's Environmental Protection Ministry served an eviction notice to remove Nissim Kahlon, 77, from his elaborate home built into the sandstone cliffs of Herzliya beach, north of Tel Aviv, Israel.

Filled with chiselled tunnels, detailed mosaic floors and a network of staircases and chambers, the structure is 'illegal' and threatens Israel's coastline, according to the ministry.

But Mr Kahlon has vowed never to leave and said authorities would have to 'bury' him in the cave to get rid of him.

'I am not leaving here. I am ready for them to bury me here,' said Kahlon, a gruff but amiable chatterbox with a grey beard and beret. 'I have nowhere to go, I have no other home.' 

Mr Kahlon was living in a tent along the Herzliya beach north of Tel Aviv in 1973 when he says he began scratching into the sandstone cliffs and moved into a cave he carved.

Over time, his simple hole in the wall turned into a real-life sandcastle on steroids, filled with recycled wood, metal, ceramic and stone.

Nearly every surface of his main quarters is covered in elaborate mosaics, made from discarded tiles of every colour that he collected from dumpsters in Tel Aviv over the years. Recycled glass bottles serve as decoration and insulation on exterior walls.