The Wall Street Journal reported that the Israeli army has begun pumping seawater into Hamas tunnels. The process is being conducted using seven giant pumps capable of pushing huge quantities of water at high speeds.
It is difficult to estimate in advance how effective the results of this flooding will be, because the tunnel network is very extensive and extends under the sector for at least 500 kilometers, if not more, and is equipped with various means of protecting individual blocks, sections and levels. Furthermore, these tunnels may not all be interconnected with each. Therefore, flooding of one area may not definitely affect the other areas.
The report does not specify exactly in which area the flooding is initiated. We can assume that it is an area that is already under the full control of our army, allowing pumps to be installed, operated and maintained, a pipe system to be deployed, etc. Therefore, it is likely that this process has been launched in the north of the Gaza Strip, where our army operates freely alongside the entire coastal strip.
Currently, the Israel Defense Forces use multiple methods and means to destroy the tunnels and thousands of shafts which lead into them. Typically, a robot enters the tunnel first, followed by a dog, and only then an experienced combatant from the engineering units. In addition to the numerous methods already available for destroying tunnels, IDF specialists continue to search for new solutions to the problem.
Egypt has in the past used sewage drains to similarly flood tunnels. It is difficult to say to what extent this proved to be a successful method of damaging Hamas’s extensive network of smuggling tunnels in Rafah (on the border with the Sinai Peninsula). In any case, the terrain conditions there were different and allowed the flood of sewage to move quickly along a route that intersected most of the tunnels, effectively flooding them.
The IDF faces a different, considerably larger and more difficult task in dealing with a much more extensive network, while technical access to the tunnels is more difficult, because they are located deep in the sector, in the heart of a densely populated area still infested with terrorists.
We should remember that it is impossible to flood all the tunnels at once — not only because of the technical difficulties and the fact that they are not all connected to each other — but also because of the concern of harming our hostages captured by the terrorists.
In any case, there is no doubt that this would be a sufficiently effective measure worth applying to other freed areas, while finding technical solutions to the difficulties listed above.
We should not forget that the psychological effect of flooding the tunnels is also very strong. It will encourage more terrorists to surrender to our army because of the fear of drowning in the tunnels.