NEW YORK (Dagbladet): In mid-November, the Israeli army completed a system of at least five pumps a kilometer and a half north of the Al-Shati refugee camp. Now two more pumps are to be installed. The pumps must be capable of pumping several thousand liters of water per hour into the extensive tunnel system that Hamas has created in Gaza. These pumps can flood the tunnels within a few weeks.
Now US officials are reporting Wall Street Journal, that the IDF has started pumping water into the tunnels. The aim is to destroy the extensive infrastructure Hamas has developed underground in Gaza.
Newspaper: Considering flooding them
Furious
Israel has long claimed that the tunnel system is used to communicate and direct Hamas soldiers and to store weapons and ammunition. Israel also believes that some of the hostages from the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 are being held captive in these tunnels.
Last week, an audio recording of a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some of the freed hostages and the hostages’ families was leaked. There, some of the participants were furious with Netanyahu and feared that flooding the tunnels would drown their loved ones, reports CNN.
The tunnels, which lie like a labyrinth under the ground in Gaza, stretch for about 480 kilometers.
US officials say it will probably take weeks to flood the tunnel system.
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Concern
In the Biden administration, there is also concern that using seawater will not be effective, and at the same time could threaten the supply of fresh water in Gaza. When Egypt used seawater to flood smuggling tunnels on the border with Gaza in 2015, several farmers in the area experienced the destruction of their crops, writes the Wall Street Journal.
The UN voted for: – Positive
Israel has used airstrikes, robots, dogs and drones to destroy the tunnel system. For the time being, however, they are said to have been reluctant to send in soldiers because it is considered very risky.
Israel now controls about 40 percent of the Gaza Strip after a brutal war in recent months, according to military analysts.
– Control over the territory is not the challenge. The problem is that Hamas has gone underground, says Israeli former intelligence chief Amos Yadlin to the Wall Street Journal.
Want a truce
Israel estimates it has killed at least 7,000 Hamas fighters since the war began on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel. Around 1,200 people are said to have been killed in the attack by Hamas.
Norwegian ship hit by rocket
According to Palestinian health authorities, more than 18,400 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began. Two thirds of them must be women and children.
The UN General Assembly decided by a large majority on Tuesday to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The demand was adopted with 153 votes in favor and ten votes against, while 23 countries abstained from voting.
Hamas is now asking that the international community put pressure on Israel to comply with the UN resolution, writes NTB.
2023-12-13 01:34:44
#WSJ #flood #begun
