2024-01-30 18:29:21
Israel’s army has confirmed for the first time that it has flooded the Islamist Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip. The aim is to “neutralize the underground terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip,” the military announced last night. Large amounts of water were channeled into the tunnels. The military spoke of a “significant technical and technological breakthrough” in the fight once morest terrorism.
Experts warned of consequences for the environment
According to the army, soil analyzes were carried out to ensure that the groundwater would not be affected by the flooding. Water was only pumped into suitable tunnel routes. The Israeli army continues to use explosives to destroy tunnels.
US media had already reported in December that Israel’s military was testing flooding in tunnels where no hostages were suspected. Seawater was pumped into some tunnels to find out whether the method was suitable for large-scale destruction of the tunnel network. Experts said the tactic might have dramatic consequences for the environment.
Tunnel network hundreds of kilometers long
According to US media, Hamas’ tunnel network in the Gaza Strip is between 480 and 720 kilometers long. According to information from the US newspaper “Wall Street Journal”, 60 to 80 percent of the underground routes are still intact.
In the Khan Yunis area in the south of the Gaza Strip, in some cases underground walls or other barriers have stopped the flow of water during flooding attempts. Overall, the method “was not as effective as Israeli representatives had hoped,” the paper wrote.
Israel suspects that the Hamas leadership and Israeli hostages are in the tunnel network below Khan Yunis.
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