The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has reportedly started using seawater to flood tunnels used by Hamas terrorists.
U.S. officials were informed the IDF started using water from the Mediterranean Sea in an attempt to clear and destroy the tunnels, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Hamas reportedly uses a vast system of tunnels to move around and store their rockets and ammunition. Some of the more than 200 hostages Hamas took in the aftermath of its Oct. 7 attack on Israel are believed to be kept in the tunnels.
Several Israeli hostages that have been released have described being taken into a “huge network” of an underground system described as being similar to a spider web.
“Israel’s military said it was intensifying operations underground in northern Gaza and beneath the southern city of Khan Younis, one of Hamas’s last strongholds,” the report from the WSJ said. “The underground labyrinth remains one of Israel’s main challenges to achieving its goal of destroying Hamas’s military capabilities both in areas it controls above ground and those where it so far hasn’t operated.”
'This idea of pumping water into the tunnels is being monitored, tried. The army was trained to use this technique in the last 10 years,'
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) December 13, 2023
Frmr. IDF Special Forces Commander @da64, @GuyAz discuss the reports of IDF pumping seawater into #Hamas's underground tunnels pic.twitter.com/vHqku8vjga
Former IDF Special Forces Commander Doron Avital told i24News that Israel’s military had been “trained” to use the technique of flooding the tunnels within the last 10 years.
Leaked audio recordings between released hostages and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed frustration at the government’s use of seawater to flood the tunnels. Released hostages pointed out that there may be hostages inside those tunnels.
Upon being asked about Israel’s use of seawater to flood the Hamas tunnels, President Joe Biden claimed that there were “no hostages” in the tunnels, but added that he did not “know that for a fact.”