Israel installs pumps to flood Gaza tunnel – it is unclear whether they will be used Brussels: 20,000 people march against climate change

According to a media report, Israel has assembled a system of large pumps that could flood the Islamist Hamas’ extensive tunnel network under the Gaza Strip with seawater.

As the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday (local time), citing US government officials, it is not known whether the Israeli government intends to use this tactic. Israel has not yet made a final decision and has not ruled out such a plan, the officials said.

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Israeli army spokesman Richard Hecht said simply on Tuesday: “We are using all means at our disposal to take action against the tunnel system.”

Assembly completed

The Israeli army completed installation of large seawater pumps north of the Al-Shati refugee camp in mid-November, the report said. Each of at least five pumps could draw water from the Mediterranean Sea and pump thousands of cubic meters of water per hour into the tunnels, flooding them within weeks, the newspaper reported.

With such tactics, Israel would be able to destroy the tunnels and drive the terrorists out of their underground hideout, it was said. On the other hand, it would endanger Gaza’s water supply, the US officials said. Israel first informed the United States of this option in early November, prompting a discussion weighing the feasibility and environmental impact against the military value of destroying the tunnel, the report said.

500 tunnels destroyed

The Israeli army says it has found more than 800 tunnel shafts since the start of the Gaza war. The army announced on Sunday that about 500 of them had already been destroyed. Some of the tunnels connected strategic Hamas facilities underground, it said in a statement. Many kilometers of underground tunnel routes were destroyed. The information could not initially be independently verified.

According to Israeli information, in the sandy soil of the Gaza Strip, which is about 45 kilometers long and about six to fourteen kilometers wide and has a population of more than two million, there is a whole network of underground tunnels that are said to number dozens of tunnels. kilometers long.

To withstand Israeli bombs from the air, some tunnels extend tens of meters underground. Some are made of concrete or have electricity. On average they are two meters high and one meter wide, but some are also large enough for vehicles. According to military experts, the tunnels also contain command, control and communications areas, storage areas and launch pads for terrorist missiles. (sda/dpa)