Israel has started flooding tunnels in Gaza in order to drive out Hamas terrorist. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed their latest strategy in the fight against Hamas on Tuesday.
The IDF, in collaboration with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, has been employing diverse methods to inundate the underground tunnel network utilized by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, aiming to dislodge terrorists hiding within. Although the flooding tactic had been widely speculated for weeks, the IDF officially acknowledged its implementation on Tuesday.
“These capabilities involve the installation of pumps and pipelines, the realization of engineering advancements, and the ability to pinpoint tunnel shafts suitable for deploying these tools,” stated the IDF in an official statement.
The IDF emphasized that this strategy signifies a significant engineering and technological advancement in combating Hamas’ clandestine terror infrastructure underground, resulting from a collective effort among various bodies in Israel’s security establishment.
While the IDF refrained from providing specific details about the tunnel flooding operations, recent reports from The Wall Street Journal revealed that Israel had erected five large seawater pumps completed in November, located approximately one mile north of the Al-Shati refugee camp. Each pump possesses the capability to draw water from the Mediterranean Sea and transport thousands of cubic meters of water per hour, potentially submerging the tunnels within weeks.
According to these reports, Israel has identified approximately 800 tunnels beneath Gaza used by Hamas for the movement of fighters, weapon storage, and planning terror attacks against Israel. However, Israeli officials suspect that the actual extent of the tunnel network is much larger.
Heavily fortified tunnels
A recent report from IDF troops suggests that Hamas may have utilized over 6,000 tons of concrete and 1,800 tons of metal to construct hundreds of miles of underground infrastructure.
The number of tunnels flooded by Israeli forces and the impact on Hamas terrorists remain uncertain. Israel is committed to eliminating the Palestinian terror group, particularly after it abducted around 240 individuals during the October 7 attack on Israel, bringing them back to the Gaza Strip. Hamas released 105 hostages during a truce in November.
Israel alleges that the surprise attack on October 7 killed approximately 1,200 people. A recent U.N. report estimated that about 16,000 individuals lost their lives due to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
The IDF’s flooding of tunnels forms part of a comprehensive strategy aimed at neutralizing the Hamas threat, involving airstrikes, subterranean combat operations, and specialized operations using technological resources.
The Israeli military demolished a tunnel beneath a cemetery in Gaza after discovering that Hamas terrorists were utilizing it for their activities, as confirmed by the IDF on Monday.
