Israel: Egypt flooded Hamas tunnels in Gaza at our request
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Israel's Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Saturday that the Egyptian military had flooded several smuggling tunnels linking used by the Palestinian Hamas group in response to an Israeli request.
"Some Hamas tunnels were flooded, to a certain extent at our request," the Energy Minister said, according to the Israeli Ynet News. "Flooding is a good solution in that realm," he added.
Security cooperation between Israel and Egypt is "better than ever," he said, speaking at an event in the Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the rise to power of the regime of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Egypt, who overthrew his Muslim Brotherhood predecessor Mohammed Morsi, Egypt has cracked down hard on Islamists. It has put further pressure on Hamas, the Palestinian offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza.
Israel is wary about Hamas, its archenemy, tunneling under the border.
Just last Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the following warning, "In the event we are attacked from tunnels in the Gaza Strip, we will act very forcefully against Hamas, and with much more force than Operation Protective Edge," he said, in reference to the last round of Israel-Hamas fighting in the summer of 2014.
"Some Hamas tunnels were flooded, to a certain extent at our request," the Energy Minister said, according to the Israeli Ynet News. "Flooding is a good solution in that realm," he added.
Security cooperation between Israel and Egypt is "better than ever," he said, speaking at an event in the Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the rise to power of the regime of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Egypt, who overthrew his Muslim Brotherhood predecessor Mohammed Morsi, Egypt has cracked down hard on Islamists. It has put further pressure on Hamas, the Palestinian offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza.
Israel is wary about Hamas, its archenemy, tunneling under the border.
Just last Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the following warning, "In the event we are attacked from tunnels in the Gaza Strip, we will act very forcefully against Hamas, and with much more force than Operation Protective Edge," he said, in reference to the last round of Israel-Hamas fighting in the summer of 2014.