Starting December 13, Israel began flooding tunnels in Gaza, according to the Wall Street Journal. The article reads: “Israel has started pumping seawater into Hamas’ underground tunnel system in Gaza.” According to the newspaper, the procedure began last month. The Israel Defense Forces declined to comment on the matter.
On December 16, the Israeli military claimed to have discovered the largest Hamas tunnel near the border with the Gaza Strip precisely at the Erez Crossing. According to the Israelis, it is the largest Hamas tunnel discovered in the Gaza Strip, located just 400 meters from the checkpoint on the border of the enclave. Judging by the operational footage found, a road milling machine was used to create it, and the passages were equipped with ventilation systems.
Hamas said on December 14 that Israel will not be able to flood the underground tunnels with sea water. The tunnels represent an “important element” of the IDF resistance and were designed by expert engineers, movement spokesman Osama Hamdan said. The underground communication routes were prepared, among other things, for a scenario involving water flooding.
Online, one of the Hamas leaders in Khan Yunis posted an invoice for more than a million dollars for concrete and armored doors. Doors used for tunnels.
The Israeli Defense Ministry announced on December 21 the destruction of 230 Hamas infrastructures in the Gaza Strip. The military’s targets were firing positions, shelters and militant groups. Ground forces, supported by aviation, conducted raids in the cities of Khan Yunis, Gaza and Jabaliya. Security forces discovered weapons caches and tunnels and also eliminated dozens of militants during firefights.
Israeli special forces were almost ambushed on December 21, but repelled the attack and covered another Hamas tunnel in Shejaiya. This then led to Israel’s destruction of an entire neighborhood in Gaza, under which was supposedly a network of underground tunnels used by the Hamas movement.
According to The Washington Post, none of the five buildings in the Al-Shifa hospital complex were connected to Hamas’ underground infrastructure. Previously, IDF spokesman Hagari had justified massive air strikes on the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip due to connections with Hamas tunnels. However, the IDF images following the capture of the hospital would show the exact opposite.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
