Israel Tests Seawater Flooding to Degrade Gaza Tunnels

A US official revealed that Israel has informed Washington about the initiation of limited tests involving flooding some of Gaza’s tunnels with seawater. The objective is to assess the feasibility of degrading Hamas’ underground network on a larger scale. While Israeli authorities remain uncertain about the method’s effectiveness, they assured the US that testing is conducted in tunnels believed to be free of hostages.

President Joe Biden, when questioned about the development, emphasized the tragic nature of civilian deaths and expressed caution regarding the assertion that no hostages are present. Israel’s military or government has not officially commented on the reported testing, which comes after the destruction of 500 tunnel shafts by the Israeli army earlier this month, with many located in civilian areas.

In 2021, Hamas claimed to have built 500 km of tunnels under Gaza, though the accuracy of this figure remains uncertain.