Israeli army confirms pumping seawater to flood Hamas tunnels in Gaza

The Israeli army said Tuesday that it has been pumping seawater to flood an underground tunnel network in the Gaza Strip used by Hamas in an effort to destroy it.

''Before it floods tunnels, the army carries out 'professional and comprehensive' preemptive checks, including an analysis of the soil and water system in the area, to ensure groundwater is not contaminated,'' Israeli's public broadcaster reported, quoting an army statement.

''Tunnels have been flooded only in locations suitable for this method, without impairing the use of groundwater,'' said Israel's Haaretz daily.

It marks the first official Israeli confirmation of what foreign media outlets had previously reported regarding the military's use of water to flood tunnels in Gaza, according to Haaretz.

At the end of last year, Israel installed a system of pumps in the northern Gaza Strip to flood the tunnels with seawater as a part of an operation called Sea of Atlantis, according to US newspaper The Wall Street Journal.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, killing at least 26,751 Palestinians and injuring 65,636. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza's population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.