For the head of the Israeli army, it is “a good idea” to flood the underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip in order to finally clarify the fate of Hamas, who is hiding there. But not necessarily easy to implement and, above all, ecologically dangerous, experts object.
• Also read: Three Israeli hostages were “accidentally” killed by Israeli army soldiers in Gaza
• Also read: Gaza: Israel authorizes the “temporary” entry of aid through one of its border crossings
• Also read: Despite American pressure, Israel is stepping up its attacks on Gaza
The Israeli army has begun testing the injection of seawater into the sprawling network of galleries dug by the Palestinian Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media.
The latter attacks Israeli soldiers there and seizes hostages kidnapped during its bloody attack on Israeli soil on October 7th. According to Israel, 1,200 people died in these massacres. Israel immediately vowed to “destroy” the armed group and launched an offensive into Palestinian territory that killed more than 18,780 people, according to the Palestinian government's latest report. Hamas.
The “Gaza Metro”
Dubbed the “Gaza Metro” by the Israeli military, the labyrinth of galleries was used for the first time to bypass the blockade Israel imposed after Hamas seized power in the area in 2007.
Hundreds of galleries have been dug beneath Egypt's Sinai border to transport people, goods, weapons and ammunition between Gaza and the outside world.
After the war between Israel and Hamas in 2014, Hamas expanded the network from which its fighters emerge to fire their rockets on Israeli soil to the entire Gaza Strip.
In a study published on October 17, the Institute of Modern Warfare at the American Military Academy named West Point as having 1,300 galleries in 500 kilometers.
What condition is he in since October 7th?
Since the invasion of the Gaza Strip on October 27, the Israeli military has realized that “the tunnel network is even more extensive and deeper than they thought,” Raphael Cohen, a military expert at the American research center Rand Corporation, analyzes for AFP.
In early December, the Israeli army said it had discovered more than 800 tunnels, 500 of which were destroyed.
“The wells were located in civilian areas and many were located near or inside schools, kindergartens, mosques and playgrounds,” she explained, adding that explosives had been placed at the entrance to certain tunnels.
hostages
In addition to the death trap that the tunnels pose for Israeli soldiers, several of the 105 hostages released during the week-long ceasefire that ended on December 1 (out of around 250 kidnapped on October 7) said they were seized there and were relocated due to the whim of attacks and ground fighting.
In late November, the Israeli army stormed Al-Chifa Hospital, claiming to have found a tunnel in its basement “used for terrorism” and broadcasting remote surveillance videos that it said proved hostages were being held there.
Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday that the bodies of two hostages had been found “in underground infrastructure” in Gaza.
Destroy the tunnels
The Israeli army has remained tight-lipped about how it plans to condemn the tunnels after the war and when the 132 remaining hostages – including 19 bodies – were returned.
According to Israeli sources in the press, it would result in the galleries being flooded with seawater pumped from the Mediterranean Sea, which borders the small coastal area. The public television station Kan 11 announced on Thursday that tests had even begun and were conclusive.
Army chief Herzi Halevi simply said it was “a good idea.”
The problem, warns Raphael Cohen, is that “there is no good way to destroy a tunnel without affecting the infrastructure on the surface.”
Hamas, in turn, doubts Israel's ability to achieve its goals.
“These tunnels were built by well-trained and qualified engineers and they took into account all types of possible attacks, including bombing and water,” Osama Hamdan, a leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement, said in Lebanon on Thursday.
An ecological risk
Some scientists and humanitarian workers say they fear saltwater contamination of groundwater, which would have catastrophic consequences for Gaza's already precarious access to drinking water.
The Gaza Strip is between six and twelve kilometers wide, and groundwater salinization is already a scourge there, made worse by rising sea levels.
Added to this are a chronically failing sanitation network and “uncontrolled use of pesticides and herbicides in areas of intensive agriculture” in Gaza, warns Professor Eilon Adar from the Zuckenberg Institute for Water Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
These three factors “have very serious consequences for water quality in Gaza.”
To the point of “being able to influence future generations,” the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Lynn Hastings, announced on Thursday.