ALBAWABA - According to a report by Reuters, citing the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Israel has assembled a large system of pumps that may be used to flood tunnels used by Hamas under the Gaza Strip in a bid to drive out fighters.
U.S. officials said that the Israeli 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 meters of water per hour, flooding the tunnels within weeks.
Hamas has previously said it has hidden captives in "safe places and tunnels", yet the report did not specify if Israel intends to use the pumps before releasing the remaining hostages.
The Wall Street Journal said an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) official declined to comment on the flooding plan but was quoted as saying: "The IDF is operating to dismantle Hamas’s terror capabilities in various ways, using different military and technological tools".
U.S. official told the WSJ that it makes sense for Israel to render the tunnels inoperable and that the country was exploring a range of ways to do that. Israeli defense ministry refused to respond to a request for comment.
Al-Aqsa Flood operation against Israel
Hamas military group announced on Oct. 7 a military operation called "Al-Aqsa Flood" against Israel which is the biggest offensive in decades.
Palestinian fighters “infiltrated” Israel from the Gaza Strip captured military bases and took hostages as photos and videos went viral online showing Hamas fighters on vehicles inside Israel and others paragliding into occupation territory.
In response, Israeli armed forces announced targeting Hamas positions inside the Gaza Strip. Thousands were killed, and dozens of thousands of others were injured in the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
According to the latest statistics, the death toll in Gaza has jumped to 15,899 since the start of the latest Israeli aggression on the besieged strip. The number of wounded through the same period has risen to 41,316.
