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Israeli troops will flood a network of tunnels beneath Gaza in a bid to force out Hamas fighters.<\/p>\n
Images showed Jerusalem\u2019s forces finalising the installation of at least five huge pumps about a mile north of the Al-Shati refugee camp in the north of the Strip.<\/p>\n
It is understood they will be used to pump thousands of cubic metres of water per hour \u2013 meaning they could flood the 300-mile network within weeks.<\/p>\n
The plan is to drive out the terrorists and make the tunnels inoperable by flooding them with water from the Mediterranean, say US officials.<\/p>\n
It is hoped the tactic will also kill off any Hamas members hiding there, officials said.<\/p>\n
Don’t miss… <\/strong> Israeli soldiers preparing pumps to flood tunnels to ‘dismantle Hamas terror’<\/strong><\/p>\n However, the order to begin the operation has yet to be given amid fears some Israeli hostages may still be held underground.<\/p>\n In the south of the strip yesterday Israeli troops were locked in urban warfare, pacing from house-to-house amid fierce fighting in Khan Younis with the promise of \u201celiminating the terrorists\u201d.<\/p>\n As Jerusalem\u2019s forces swarmed into the city in the hunt for remaining Hamas operatives, the Israeli government said it believed there were still some 138 hostages being held in the war-torn Strip \u2013 including some Britons. There were angry outbursts from some relatives who believed there was no immediate plan to rescue them.<\/p>\n The United Nations warned that 600,000 people are under evacuation orders in southern Gaza amid ferocious military exchanges \u2013 nearly half of whom had already been forced to leave their homes.<\/p>\n Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNWRA, the UN\u2019s agency for Palestinian refugees, said \u201cthere is nowhere to go\u201d because shelters are \u201cbeyond and over their capacity\u201d.<\/p>\n The UN said over 80% of people in Gaza have been driven from their homes. And the fighting is preventing aid from being distributed outside a small corner of the territory.<\/p>\n US officials are also voicing concern over the human cost of the war.<\/p>\n But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained adamant that the only way to finish it quickly was to use crushing force against Hamas.<\/p>\n He challenged the international community to speak out against the sexual assaults, rapes and mutilations during the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/78\/590x\/secondary\/Palestinians-including-children-wounded-in-Israeli-attacks-are-being-brought-to-Nasser-Hospital-for-treatment-in-Khan-Yunis-5102949.jpg?r=1701898500221\")
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