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GAZA'S FUTURE OVER FLOODED TERROR TUNNELS
- jakefarrella
- Feb 10, 2024
- 2 min read
As the conflict in the Middle East becomes more unstable by the day, a new IDF strategy gambles with the volume of Hamas' terror tunnels and the region's access to fresh water.
By Jake
10 February 2024
A member of the PIJ (Palestinian Islamic Jihad) guards a tunnel under Gaza in March of 2023. (Credit: Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The Israeli-Hamas conflict drags on. As thousands of Gazans dig through the rubble of their homes, schools, and hospitals, the missile strikes are often justified by the IDF as targeting the entrances of tunnels that lie underneath Gaza. As ONE covered in 2021, the huge, sprawling network of tunnels are indeed a threat. Constructed using funds and materials meant for Palestinians, the tunnels present hundreds of opportunities for Hamas and PIJ fighters to invade, smuggle, ambush, and hide below those simply trying to survive. However, all efforts to counter the tunnels risk the wellbeing of Gazans living just above.
The latest measure by the IDF is an engineered flooding of the tunnel network with seawater, likely to reduce the network's effectiveness or flush out Hamas leaders like Yahya Sinwar who are suspected to be hiding there. It's complex on an engineering level, but seems more doable than talk month ago of gassing the tunnels. However, as with the months of bombardments, the IDF is willfully ignoring how its military aims threaten innocent lives of Palestinians, as well as Israeli hostages.
Project Atlantis, as it's been dubbed, has flaws for both the short and long term. In the short term, the flooding may only impact part of the tunnels, and it will be very difficult to ascertain the results after flooding. It's highly unlikely that every section is interconnected, so key areas may be unaffected. The end goals of the engineering project seem to be to corrode and collapse the tunnel system, but the IDF's use of ground-penetrating radar has not been able to locate key entrances and hub centers in the tunnels.
The most obvious risk is that Israel risks drowning Hamas' hostages, should they be in the tunnels. But in the long term, analysis of the project raises concerns for the groundwater and stability of Gaza's surface. In 2021, a tunnel collapsed and killed a Hamas fighter, later labelled a martyr by Sinwar. The shelling and flooding could undermine the foundations of key buildings, threatening both current building and future projects. Hamas certainly had no concern for their tunnel's placements near schools, hospitals, and homes. Scientists have also raised the issue of contaminated groundwater, a serious concern in an area already heavily reliant on desalination plants (two in the north have been offline since IDF bombardment started). Some may even accuse Israel of a war crime, as humanitarian law conventions Israel has signed are strict against environmental damage that affects civilians.
The tunnel system may be the best example of infrastructure in Gaza used solely by Hamas and PIJ fighters, making it a more justifiable target than the buildings being leveled on the surface. However, the hasty, imperfect planning of Project Atlantis opens up more long-term dangers for those living in Gaza than short-term strategic benefit for the IDF as it prepares for months of conflict.
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