{"id":122312,"date":"2023-12-13T15:20:05","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T15:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cottontailsonline.com\/?p=122312"},"modified":"2023-12-13T15:20:05","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T15:20:05","slug":"israel-starts-pumping-seawater-into-hamas-tunnels-to-flush-out-militants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cottontailsonline.com\/world-news\/israel-starts-pumping-seawater-into-hamas-tunnels-to-flush-out-militants\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel ‘starts pumping seawater into Hamas tunnels’ to flush out militants"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Israeli forces have started pumping seawater into Hamas’ tunnel system under Gaza.<\/p>\n

According to reports, Israel will spend weeks pumping water into the tunnels to try and destroy Hamas’ infrastructure in Gaza.<\/p>\n

This could also help Israel find some of the hostages in Gaza, who could be being held in the tunnels.<\/p>\n

However, Israel has been warned by some that this could constitute a war crime.<\/p>\n

Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky said during a United Nations Security Council meeting this week: “War crimes are snowballing \u2014 shocking reports have been circulated in recent days that Israel plans to flood underground facilities in the Gaza Strip with seawater.<\/p>\n

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“According to open sources, the IDF has already built a system of pumps and pipes to pump seawater and is currently discussing with the United States practical aspects of such flooding: whether there will be enough water or if the tunnels’ ‘topography’ is fit for that and so on.<\/p>\n

“Such a step, if made, will constitute a blatant war crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some in the West have warned that this could lead to an environmental disaster.<\/p>\n

Prof. (Emer.) Eilon Adar of the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in southern Israel, told the Times of Israel that this could impact Gazans’ access to clean water.<\/p>\n

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He said: “As a citizen, despite the disaster that we experienced on October 7, I still think that in the long run \u2014 and we have to think of the future \u2014 it would be politically and morally incorrect to have a thirsty neighbor.”<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, Israeli troops have been pictured setting up the pumps that could see Gazan tunnels flooded.<\/p>\n

Senior US officials are also said to be sceptical about the plan.<\/p>\n

A source told the Wall Street Journal: “We are not sure how successful pumping will be, since nobody knows the details of the tunnels and the ground around them.”<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s impossible to know if that will be effective because we don\u2019t know how seawater will drain in tunnels no one has been in before.”<\/p>\n