Israel 'preparing to flood Hamas tunnels with seawater' to drive fighters out

Soldiers from Israel's Defence Forces (IDF) have assembled a system of large pumps it claims it could use to flood Hamas' vast network of tunnels under the Gaza Strip with seawater

Israel claims it is preparing to pump thousands of gallons of seawater into Hamas' labyrinth of tunnels, in a bid to "flush out" militants.

Soldiers from Israel's Defence Forces (IDF) have assembled a system of large pumps it says it could use to flood Hamas' vast network of tunnels under the Gaza Strip with seawater. If successful, this could flood the tunnels and drive the fighters from what many believe is an underground refuge. US Officials have also warned this could impact the besieged enclave's water supply, say reports.

The tunnels are believed to extend for hundreds of miles below the surface, but no one truly knows what has been going on there since the start of the war. According to the WSJ, in November Israel's army completed the set-up of at least five pumps about a mile north of the al Shati refugee camp that could move thousands of cubic metres of water per hour, flooding the tunnels within weeks.

Now, newly released images from the IDF appear to show scores of Israeli soldiers setting up a series of black pipes on the beaches in Gaza. It was not clear whether Israel would consider using the pumps before all the Israeli hostages captured by Hamas were released, as any move to flood the tunnels could prove fatal for the captives. Hamas has previously said it has hidden the hostages in "safe places and tunnels."

Military Analyst Professor Michael Clarke told Sky News that by flooding the tunnels the Israeli military could end up polluting the aquifers that assist with Gaza's water supply. He said: "That would be a piece of environmental vandalism which the world would not thank Israel for." Clarke also cautioned: "Letting a story get out may be a piece of psychological warfare so that it gets any Gazans in the tunnels to get out. To flush them out of the tunnels with words rather than with water."

Israel’s widening air and ground offensive in southern Gaza has displaced tens of thousands more Palestinians and worsened the territory's dire humanitarian conditions, with the fighting preventing the distribution of food, water and medicine outside a tiny sliver of southern Gaza and new military evacuation orders squeezing people into ever-smaller areas of the south.

On Tuesday, Israel's military entered Khan Younis, Gaza's second-largest city, in its pursuit to wipe out the territory's Hamas rulers. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the military must retain open-ended security control over the Gaza Strip long after the war ends. Around 1,200 people have died on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during Hamas’ October 7 attack.