Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Flood the Gaza Tunnels
realclearwire.com ^ | 11/1/2023 | jeff goodson

Posted on 11/01/2023 10:28:56 AM PDT by bitt

The biggest problem confronting Israel in its war on Hamas is how to destroy the Gaza tunnel networks and the terrorist operations therein. Bombing works—mostly—but there’s a better way. Not only would it dramatically reduce Israeli military and Gazan civilian casualties, but it would effectively destroy the tunnel systems for the long term. That solution is to flood the tunnels with seawater from the adjacent Mediterranean.

I worked on the Gaza Strip back in the 1990s. The U.S. government was pouring tens of millions of tax dollars into development assistance there on engineering infrastructure, housing, and related projects. Part of reviewing that work on the ground involved tramping over much of the small territory on foot.

Gaza consists of a strip of beach, back beach, and coastal plain that’s flat to slightly rolling. The territory stretches for about twenty-five miles along the eastern Mediterranean. At its widest, in the south, it’s about seven and a half miles wide; most of it is far narrower, about half of that.

The Gaza tunnel system, mostly constructed over the last forty years, provides Hamas with offensive access to Israel. It also constitutes the terrorist organization’s most formidable defensive redoubt. The tunnels present by far the most difficult logistical problem for Israel in eliminating enemy targets. Open-source maps show at least eleven independent tunnel networks, some nearly adjacent to the sea. The number of independent networks, however, could far exceed that. Hamas claims that the total length of the tunnels is about three hundred miles.

The geography of Gaza argues strongly for the stratagem of flooding the tunnels. It would force the enemy above ground where they can more easily be destroyed, dramatically reduce the Israeli casualties required to accomplish that task and resolve the problem of dealing with parts of the tunnels that are too deep to destroy through bombing. Most importantly, flooding is a permanent or near-permanent solution to the Gaza tunnel problem. Once accomplished, pumping them out enough to be usable again would be both extremely costly and—especially in conjunction with bombing—exceptionally difficult. The timing of executing a flooding strategy is flexible; some could be flooded now, others later, and still others once they’re discovered.

The engineering is straightforward. Egypt flooded thirty-seven cross-border tunnels in southern Gaza back in 2015 in what stands as a practical proof of concept in this location. Seawater from the Mediterranean would be pumped directly into the tunnel openings through short pipelines. While there’s little hydrological head, there is also little topographical relief to deal with in laying the pipe. Large volumes of water are pumped long distances every day, and Israeli water technology is world class.

more....


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: gaza; gazatunnels; hamas; lox; war
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-116 next last
To: roadcat

That’s a good post .. excellent idea.


81 posted on 11/01/2023 1:11:01 PM PDT by tomkat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: bitt

My thought is to pump methane into as many tunnels the IDF has access to then ignite it......


82 posted on 11/01/2023 1:19:36 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ro_dreaming

Don’t they add mercaptans to natural gas also? Anyway, he mentioned both natural gas and propane.


83 posted on 11/01/2023 1:45:57 PM PDT by HartleyMBaldwin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]

To: bitt

Better way ? Drill down 1000m and detonate a 100kt nuclear weapon. It would obliterates tunnels for miles. Low impact on the mudslimes too. Nice way to tell the world “we got nuke”.


84 posted on 11/01/2023 2:28:43 PM PDT by DCBryan1 (Inter arma enim silent leges! - Cicero )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ruy Dias de Bivar
Any chance of it collapsing all the foundations in Gaza into one big hole?

Yep. Project Plowshares.....drill down 1000m and detonate a 100kt nuclear weapon and you get this:


85 posted on 11/01/2023 2:33:38 PM PDT by DCBryan1 (Inter arma enim silent leges! - Cicero )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: DCBryan1
Drill down 1000m and detonate a 100kt nuclear weapon.

"Nice tunnels you have there ... be a shame if there was an unexpected sudden earthquake ..."


86 posted on 11/01/2023 2:36:28 PM PDT by BlueLancer (Everyone thinks you were executed. Stay dead - you'll live longer. (A. Breakspear, "Carnival Row"))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 84 | View Replies]

To: bitt
No. Halothane/Fluothane immersion tunnel-by-tunnel. Rack up the mooselimes with three in the hat and carry out hostages. Fuel, rinse, repeat.

Then flood the tunnels after.

87 posted on 11/01/2023 3:13:33 PM PDT by StAnDeliver (TrumpII)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bitt

How many feet would it lower the Mediterranean Sea to accomplish this? Oh, what the heck, let the pumping begin.

Might cause a problem with transiting the Suez Canal though.


88 posted on 11/01/2023 3:34:47 PM PDT by GreyFriar (Spearhead - 3rd Armored Division 75-78 & 83-87)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HartleyMBaldwin

I have no idea about other gas lines. I’ve got a 1000 gal propane tank behind my house for my use, and was a volunteer firefighter for 4 years or so in my rural area. Certainly aware of the dangers of propane :-)


89 posted on 11/01/2023 3:35:56 PM PDT by ro_dreaming (Who knew "Idiocracy", "1984", "Enemy of the State", and "Person of Interest" would be non-fiction?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 83 | View Replies]

To: GreyFriar
"How many feet would it lower the Mediterranean Sea to accomplish this? Oh, what the heck, let the pumping begin. Might cause a problem with transiting the Suez Canal though."

I'm lol'ing imagining the world's tallest fountain as the Mediterranean Sea pressure travels up whatever the path of least resistance is in Hamas underground HQ under that hospital.

90 posted on 11/01/2023 3:40:38 PM PDT by StAnDeliver (TrumpII)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 88 | View Replies]

To: ro_dreaming

They started putting odorants such as mercaptan compounds into natural gas (and propane) after the New London School explosion in Texas in 1937. The school was heated with natural gas from local oil wells and a leak under the school let a lot of gas build up before it exploded one afternoon, killing around 300 children and teachers.


91 posted on 11/01/2023 3:51:58 PM PDT by HartleyMBaldwin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 89 | View Replies]

To: bitt

He stole my comment from some days ago. Flood the tunnels with the Med!


92 posted on 11/01/2023 3:58:41 PM PDT by Moltke (Reasoning with a liberal is like watering a rock in the hope to grow a building.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: broken_clock

I suggested gasoline; flood it and light it up!


93 posted on 11/01/2023 4:12:32 PM PDT by Taxman ((SAVE AMERICA! VOTE REPUBLICAN IN 2023 AND 2024!))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: broken_clock

We must remember they are upwind of our jewish friends. Which alas rules out my Iowa solution of filling them with hog sewage. It also rules the suggestion I’ve seen multiple times online since the invasion of just nuking Gaza.


94 posted on 11/01/2023 5:23:29 PM PDT by JohnBovenmyer (Biden/Harris events are called dodo ops)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: JohnBovenmyer

Yes, the nuke em til they glow, and shoot em in the dark option is off the table in this case. Unfortunately.


95 posted on 11/01/2023 5:58:28 PM PDT by broken_clock (Go Trump! Still praying.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 94 | View Replies]

To: bitt

Add some UV dye so drones can pick up when/where the tunneling resumes.


96 posted on 11/01/2023 6:12:22 PM PDT by If You Want It Fixed - Fix It ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bitt

They should make real and many fake tunneling sensors and flow them with the water, at least for psyops.


97 posted on 11/01/2023 6:13:51 PM PDT by If You Want It Fixed - Fix It ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: broken_clock

Genius! Pipeline it from Telaviv or US pig farms.


98 posted on 11/01/2023 6:15:00 PM PDT by If You Want It Fixed - Fix It ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: broken_clock

I had the same thought - I imagine things are getting a bit pungent in Gaza after 3 weeks of no power


99 posted on 11/01/2023 6:16:39 PM PDT by Palio di Siena (P01135809)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Palio di Siena

It is my belief that the Israeli military already knows where the hostages can be found in these tunnels.


100 posted on 11/01/2023 8:05:29 PM PDT by V V Camp Enari 67-68 ( This clears up a lot of misconception)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 99 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-116 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson