IDF trial of flooding Hamas tunnels with seawater proves successful, ToI told

Israel’s reported attempt to pump seawater into the vast network of tunnels beneath Gaza was a success, The Times of Israel learned Thursday, as the army warned of “new combat methods” to deal with terrorists hiding underground.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that the IDF had started pumping seawater into Hamas’s underground tunnel system, a move aimed at destroying the Palestinian terror group’s subterranean network of passages and hideaways and at driving its operatives above ground.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said last week that flooding the tunnels was “a good idea” but wouldn’t comment further.

On Thursday, The Times of Israel confirmed that the tunnel flooding had indeed begun, albeit in a limited trial capacity. Still, it was understood to have been a success.

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan was asked about the issue on Thursday and he claimed that the terror group’s tunnels were engineered to withstand flooding as well as other “potential dangers.” READ MORE