(Times Of Israel) The IDF has started pumping seawater into Hamas’s underground tunnel system in Gaza, a move aimed at destroying the Palestinian terror group’s subterranean network of passages and hideaways and driving its operatives above ground, a report said Tuesday.
The development was reported by The Wall Street Journal, which earlier this month reported that the tactic was under “consideration” and that the Israel Defense Forces had set up five large water pumps near the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, capable of flooding the tunnels within weeks by pumping thousands of cubic meters of water per hour into them.
On Tuesday, citing US officials briefed on the Israeli military’s operations, the American outlet reported that the operation was at an early stage and that the utility of the tactic was still being considered.
It said the method is one out of a few others weighed to tackle the tunnels, including airstrikes, use of liquid explosives, and dispatching dogs, drones and robots into the network.
IDF chief Herzi Halevi said last week that flooding the tunnels is “a good idea, but I won’t comment on its specifics.”
The military has refused to comment on details of its operations to destroy the tunnel infrastructure.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi speaks to the press from southern Israel, December 5, 2023. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)
US President Joe Biden was asked Tuesday about the report.
“With regard to the flooding of the tunnels… There (are) assertions being made that there [are] no hostages in any of these tunnels, but I don’t know that for a fact,” Biden said in response to a question on the matter during a press conference at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky.
