Israeli military to test flooding of Hamas tunnels
According to the US media, the Israeli military is feeling its way towards a controversial option in the fight against Hamas: in initial tests, the army is examining whether the terrorists' tunnels can be rendered unusable with the help of seawater. However, Hamas is probably still hiding hostages in the tunnels.
According to reports in the US media, the Israeli armed forces are testing the flooding of the tunnels of the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Seawater is being pumped into some tunnels to find out whether the method is suitable for large-scale destruction of the underground system, the US television station CNN reported, citing a US official in charge of the matter.
The Wall Street Journal reported on the test run. Israel had informed the USA that only tunnels in which no hostages were suspected would be flooded. The US National Security Council and the Israeli armed forces did not initially comment on the reports when asked.
At a press conference on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden was asked about the flooding. He replied: "It's very difficult as far as the flooding of the tunnels is concerned: it is claimed that there are certainly no hostages in these tunnels. But I don't know that for sure." He then added: "What I do know for sure is that every civilian death is an absolute tragedy."
Gaza's water supply in danger
Just over a week ago, Israel's Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi described the idea of flooding the extensive tunnel system with seawater as a good idea. At the time, the Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had assembled a system of large pumps to feed the seawater into the tunnels. However, the military had initially hesitated out of concern for the hostages hidden in the tunnels. According to the Wall Street Journal, each of the at least five pumps could draw water from the Mediterranean and feed thousands of cubic meters of water per hour into the tunnels, flooding them within a few weeks.
This would threaten the Gaza Strip's water supply. Israel first informed the US of the option in early November, triggering a discussion in which the feasibility and environmental impact were weighed against the military value of taking out the tunnels, the report said.
According to the Israeli military, Hamas has built an extensive tunnel system under the Gaza Strip. It is estimated to be around 500 kilometers long. According to the Israeli military, more than 800 tunnel shafts have been found since the beginning of the war. However, the Israeli army assumes that many of the 135 hostages still kidnapped from Israel are also being held in the tunnels.
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In response to the Israeli military's testing of seawater flooding on Hamas's tunnels in the Gaza Strip, concerns have been raised about the potential impact on the region's water supply. Additionally, US President Joe Biden expressed uncertainty regarding the presence of hostages in the tunnels, stating that every civilian death is a tragedy.
Source: www.ntv.de
