Whereas the IDF claims to have destroyed a whole bunch of tunnel shafts in Gaza, the strategic use of water to flood them presents potential challenges
The Israeli army formally acknowledged on Tuesday that it has been using a singular technique of pumping “giant volumes of water” into suspected Hamas tunnels in Gaza.
This affirmation comes after weeks of hypothesis and stories suggesting the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) had been testing the tactic of seawater pumping into tunnels.
The IDF, which initially remained silent on the matter, launched an announcement outlining using “new capabilities” to focus on Hamas infrastructure within the Gaza Strip by channelling substantial quantities of water into the tunnels.
“The IDF has carried out new capabilities in the course of the warfare with the purpose of neutralising underground terrorist infrastructure, together with by channelling giant volumes of water into them,” the assertion learn.
“This methodology was developed in cooperation with the @Israel_MOD, and is simply utilized in places the place it’s appropriate. The IDF takes into consideration the soil and water techniques within the space, matching the tactic of operation to every particular case,” the assertion added.
“It is a vital software in combating the specter of Hamas’ underground terrorist infrastructure,” it additionally stated.
The assertion clarified that instruments comparable to pumps and pipes had been employed and emphasised that the water pumping was executed selectively in tunnel routes deemed appropriate for this methodology.
The transfer has raised considerations concerning the security of hostages believed to be held underground in Gaza. When discussions about flooding tunnels first emerged in December, specialists expressed apprehensions about potential dangers, together with the contamination of freshwater provides and harm to surface-level infrastructure, CNN reported.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group controlling Gaza, downplayed the potential success of Israel’s tactic, asserting that its tunnel community was designed to resist such flooding.
Specialists be aware that the flooding operation might drive Hamas militants to relocate inside the tunnels, offering Israeli intelligence with alternatives to determine militants and probably find hostages. The size of the IDF’s exams, together with the quantity of water and strain used, stays unclear, including a component of uncertainty to the potential affect on Gaza’s subterranean infrastructure.
Traditionally, using tunnels in warfare isn’t new, with examples starting from the French within the interwar interval to al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the Viet Cong in Southeast Asia. Nonetheless, Hamas’ tunnels are described as significantly revolutionary, identified for his or her depth, sophistication, and intensive attain beneath the densely populated Gaza Strip, as reported by CNN.
The Israeli army’s strategy mirrors earlier cases the place flooding was utilised to counter tunnels. In 2018, the IDF flooded tunnels allegedly constructed by Hezbollah on the Israel-Lebanon border with cement, inflicting spillage onto the floor in southern Lebanon. Equally, Egypt employed flooding in 2013 to dam tunnels beneath its border with Gaza, utilizing seawater, sewage water, and cement.
Whereas the IDF claims to have destroyed a whole bunch of tunnel shafts in Gaza, the strategic use of water to flood them presents potential challenges. The danger of harm to Gaza’s infrastructure and freshwater contamination is heightened when tunnels are flooded beneath populated areas.
As of now, the Israeli authorities faces public strain to retrieve hostages alive, and leaked audio recordings of a gathering between freed hostages and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed considerations and anger relating to the potential for tunnel flooding, CNN reported.
(Solely the headline and film of this report could have been reworked by the Enterprise Customary employees; the remainder of the content material is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First Revealed: Jan 31 2024 | 7:01 AM IST