NEW YORK — Israel’s military has begun to pump seawater into Hamas’s vast complex of tunnels in Gaza, according to US officials briefed on the Israeli military’s operations, part of an intensive effort to destroy the underground infrastructure that has underpinned the group’s operations, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
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The move to flood the tunnels with water from the Mediterranean, which is in an early stage, is just one of several techniques Israel is using to try to clear the tunnels and destroy them.
A spokesperson for the Israeli defense minister declined to comment, saying the tunnel operations are classified, the paper added.
Israeli officials say that Hamas’s vast underground system has been key to its operations on the battlefield. The tunnel system, they say, is used by Hamas to maneuver fighters across the battlefield and store the group’s rockets and munitions, and enables the group’s leaders to command and control their forces. Israel also believes some hostages are being held inside tunnels.
Some Biden administration officials have been concerned that using seawater might not be effective and could endanger Gaza’s freshwater supply. Egypt in 2015 used seawater to flood tunnels operated by smugglers under the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, prompting complaints from nearby farmers about damaged crops.
But other US officials say the technique might help destroy portions of the tunnel network. The Wall Street Journal has previously reported that flooding the tunnels with seawater was under consideration.
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