Israel is reportedly poised to flood the vast tunnel network used by Hamas under Gaza despite warnings about the risk to remaining hostages.
According to The Wall Street Journal(WSJ), the Israeli Defence Forces finished assembling at least five pumps just north of the Al-Shati refugee camp last month that could each "move thousands of cubic metres of water per hour" from the Mediterranean Sea into the tunnels. And images released by the IDF yesterday "appear to show scores of Israeli soldiers setting up a series of black pipes" on Gaza's beaches, the Daily Mail reported.
Videos shared by Israeli media also "appear to show IDF soldiers working on the pipes while underground", the paper added. But while flooding the tunnels could destroy the underground network and drive out the terrorist organisation, the move could "prove fatal" for any of hostages being held underground.
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But the IDF's chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, publicly endorsed the move as a "good idea".
Military analyst Professor Michael Clarke told Sky News that the plan to force Hamas out of the tunnels "would work", however.
But the reports "may be a piece of psychological warfare" to "flush them out" with "words rather than water", he suggested.
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