Report: Israel sets up pumps to flush out ‘Hamas tunnels’

Israel has completed plans to flood hideouts belonging to Hamas.

The hideouts are reportedly tucked in tunnel systems under the Gaza Strip, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports.

Citing US officials on Monday, the report said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) completed the set-up of at least five pumps about a mile north of the Al-Shati refugee camp, that could move thousands of cubic metres of water per hour from the Mediterranean Sea.

Such a plan would flood the tunnels within weeks, the report added.

Although the IDF has not made any statement regarding the reported plan, WSJ quoted an army official as saying: “The IDF is operating to dismantle Hamas’ terror capabilities in various ways, using different military and technological tools”.

On Sunday, the IDF said its soldiers have discovered more than 800 tunnel shafts in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the ground offensive targeting Hamas in late October, some 500 of which have already been destroyed.

The military said it has also destroyed hundreds of kilometres worth of tunnels in addition to the shafts.

“The shafts were located in civilian areas, and many of them were located near or inside educational institutions, kindergartens, mosques, and playgrounds,” the IDF said, adding that in some of the tunnels, soldiers found Hamas weaponry.

Israel vowed to topple Hamas after the October 7 attack, in which the terrorists stormed across the border from Gaza and killed some 1,200 people, while taking around 240 hostage.

During a seven-day truce which lapsed on Friday, Hamas released 105 civilian hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

The IDF said 136 hostages remain in Gaza.