Israel admits to flooding tunnels in coastal enclave
Israel yesterday admitted flooding tunnels in Gaza, more than a month after the first reports of seawater being pumped into the Hamas network of passages as the military intensified its offensive in the coastal enclave.
The Israeli military said it channelled “large amounts of water” into Hamas tunnels “to neutralise underground terrorist infrastructure”.
Army units and the Defence Ministry developed tools “to inject high-flow water” into the tunnels, the military said.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the plan in December, with US officials saying the move could not only destroy Hamas’s extensive tunnel system but also severely damage the enclave’s water supply.
It said the army finished assembling “large seawater pumps” north of Al Shati refugee camp in central Gaza in mid-November.
Palestinian officials say about 27,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war in Gaza began on October 7, prompted by a Hamas attack on southern Israel which killed about 1,200 people. At least 8,000 others are missing.
The majority of the victims are women and children, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.
More than 700,000 cases of infectious diseases, skin diseases, hepatitis and other illnesses have been recorded in Gaza’s displaced population. International organisations have warned of the risk of famine caused by the severely restricted aid provided and the lack of fresh water.
Air strikes on desalination plants and a lack of fuel for pumping stations have left many civilians without potable water.
Israel’s attacks on central Gaza have increased in recent days after it hit the southern city of Khan Younis, where major hospitals remain under siege. A child was shot dead by the Israeli army near Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city on Tuesday, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported, while air strikes were also reported on the Bureij refugee camp and Deir Al Balah.
The Palestine Red Crescent also raised concerns for a missing rescue team, who have been unreachable since venturing out to save a six-year-old girl in Gaza city on Monday.
“The fate of Hind and the PRCS ambulance crew that headed out yesterday to rescue her is still unknown,” an official said.
“We express deep concern for the safety of our colleagues and Hind.”
Hind was the only survivor of an Israeli attack on her family’s vehicle, and stayed on the phone with medics for three hours begging to be rescued, according to the PRCS and official Palestinian media.
In the south, the organisation’s Al Amal Hospital is still facing Israeli shelling and gunfire. The PRCS said a security guard was shot outside Al Amal Hospital.
The organisation said that “Medical teams, wounded, patients, and thousands of displaced people, primarily children and women, live in constant fear and anxiety.”
Palestine’s Foreign Ministry yesterday called for an investigation into reports that about 30 bodies were discovered in a mass grave in northern Gaza.
The ministry said the victims, found in a school, had been blindfolded with their hands bound.
It accused Israeli forces of killing the civilians in “execution style” and called for an international investigation team to conduct an inspection “of all areas to find out the truth about the genocide against the Palestinian people”.