Israel Said to Set Up Pumps in Gaza For Flooding Hamas Tunnels with Seawater

 


Dec 5, 2023. Posted by  Balkan Periscope - Hellas

Bankrupt of targets to score any victory against Hamas, the ‘Israeli’ regime has readied plans to flood the resistance group’s system of tunnels under the Gaza Strip with water pumped from the Mediterranean Sea, a move in an attempt to destroy its subterranean network of passages and hideaways and driving its fighters above ground, according to a report Monday.

Quoting US officials, the Wall Street Journal reported that the ‘Israeli’ occupation forces last month set up five large water pumps near the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, which are capable of flooding the tunnels within weeks by pumping thousands of cubic meters of water per hour into them.

The officials said ‘Israel’ alerted the US about the plan last month, but has not yet decided on whether to implement it.

The report noted it was unclear whether the ‘Israeli’ military would move to flood the tunnels before all of the captives that Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups took during the October 7 Operation Al-Aqsa Flood were released, due to the apparent risk that would be posed to captives being held underground.

According to the report, opinions in Biden administration were mixed, with some officials expressing concern about the ‘Israeli’ plan while others said they back ‘Israel’s’ attempts to destroy the tunnels and that there isn’t necessarily any American opposition.

Among the concerns cited by the newspaper were potential damage to Gaza’s aquifer and soil, if seawater and hazardous substances in the tunnels seeps into them, as well as the possible impact on the foundations of buildings.

“We are not sure how successful pumping will be since nobody knows the details of the tunnels and the ground around them,” a person familiar with the plan told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s impossible to know if that will be effective because we don’t know how seawater will drain in tunnels no one has been in before.”

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