Israel begins the process of flooding Gaza tunnels with seawater
Biden confirms that he does not have information indicating the absence of hostages in the targeted Hamas tunnels
Israel has started pumping seawater into Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip, according to the U.S. newspaper “The Wall Street Journal,” about a week after reports suggested that the Israeli army had brought large pumps, amid concerns by the families of hostages about the possibility of their loved ones being killed in this operation.
The newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing U.S. officials, that Israel has begun implementing its plan to flood Gaza tunnels with seawater, confirming that the process is carried out through 7 different pumping systems and is expected to continue for weeks.
It added that the spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Defense avoided commenting on the matter and only said that “operations targeting tunnels are conducted secretly.”
Earlier, U.S. officials expressed concern to “The Wall Street Journal” that pumping seawater into the tunnel network could contaminate freshwater sources and damage infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
Later, ABC News published a similar report, stating that the flooding seems limited, as Israel is assessing the effectiveness of the strategy.
President Joe Biden refused to directly respond to a question about reports that Israel is pumping seawater into Hamas tunnels in Gaza, only signaling assurances that there are no hostages in the targeted areas.
Biden said in a press conference, “Regarding flooding the tunnels… Well, there are confirmations that… there are no hostages in any of these tunnels. But I don’t know that for sure,” adding, “but I do know that every civilian death is an absolute tragedy, and Israel has announced its intention, as I said, to carry out its words with actions.”
Israel has identified about 800 tunnels to date, while stating that the network of existing tunnels is much larger than known.
Last Wednesday, the Israeli news site “Walla” quoted the wife of a recently released Israeli prisoner in Gaza saying to members of the Security Cabinet in a previous meeting at the Israeli Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tel Aviv, “They (the prisoners) are in the tunnels, and you talk about flooding them with seawater.”
She added, without mentioning her name, “You put politics above the release of the hostages. My husband hit himself (he is still a captive of the Palestinian resistance) because the situation was difficult, and you only think about bringing down Hamas.”
The Israeli army announced that ten soldiers were killed in the battles in Gaza on Tuesday, including an officer with the rank of colonel who was leading an advanced base for the Golan Infantry Brigade.
The statement issued today, Wednesday, previously mentioned that the last count of deaths in one day was eight, including Lieutenant Colonel Jolani, who was leading a Golan Brigade battalion.
The army also announced on Tuesday in a statement the recovery of the bodies of two Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip during a military operation, adding in the statement, “During an operation in Gaza, the bodies of Idan Zakaria and (Soldier) Ziv Dadon were found and returned to Israel.”
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The Israeli forces had previously confirmed that one of the hostages, Soldier Ziv Dadon (36 years old), was killed in the attack carried out by the Hamas movement on Israel.
Meanwhile, Edin Zakaria (28 years old) was kidnapped on the same day during the Nova Music Festival, in which 364 people were killed and about 40 others were taken hostage.
The Forum for Hostage Families announced that Zakaria “was kidnapped while injured in the upper half of her body,” and her boyfriend was killed during the attack, while the army said that during the process of finding the bodies, “two soldiers fell in battle, and other soldiers were injured.”
According to the army, 135 hostages remain in the Gaza Strip, including bodies.
In response to “daily Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people and their sanctities,” Hamas launched the “Storm Al-Aqsa” attack on October 7 against Israeli settlements and military bases in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas killed about 1200 Israelis and injured about 5431 in its attack, and captured about 239, exchanged dozens of them, during a humanitarian truce that lasted 7 days until December 1. Israel holds 7800 Palestinians, including children and women, in its prisons.”
