Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip may have been filled with chemical substances under the supervision of the US Delta Force ahead of the Israeli ground assault, a UK-based news website covering events in the Middle East claimed, citing a "senior Arab source" familiar with Palestinian armed groups.
"It is nothing short of utmost ignorance and naivety to rely on a chatter by some Arab official with regard to this matter and to take it seriously," Yaakov Kedmi, a military expert and former head of the Israeli Jewish diaspora liaison service Nativ, told Sputnik. "Usually there should be logic [behind any military action]. What's the point of releasing gas into these underground tunnels?"
According to Kedmi, there is no need for the IDF to gas Hamas if the militant group remains trapped in the underground tunnels. In fact, it would be enough to cut off electricity, water and air supplies to Hamas bunkers in order to thwart their activities, the Israeli commentator said, trashing the rumors of a chemical attack.
Earlier this week, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh quoted a well-informed American official as saying that Israeli leaders are reportedly considering flooding Hamas's vast tunnel system with water from the sea before launching a large-scale ground operation.
"There is no point in destroying [Hamas fighters] underground by [nerve] gas or seawater," Kedmi said. "What for? There is little air underground, and there is little electricity underground. Let them remain underground without water, without air, without everything, without electricity, without water, without communication. They will continue to sit underground where they will finally die."
Kedmi does not hold the emerging reports of IDF plans in high regard, calling them a "bogey":
"Why are there bugaboos about Novichok around the world? Why are there scary stories that Russia will blow up certain nuclear power plants tomorrow? Why are there bogies popping up every two months that 'tomorrow' Russia will use certain gases in Ukraine or nuclear weapons? It's the same [nonsense]."
Kedmi added that despite the Benjamin Netanyahu government's promises to eliminate Hamas fighters, they have yet to take concrete action.
"Mr. Netanyahu has been saying for 15 years that he will destroy Hamas. He's been talking about this for 15 years. 'I will destroy Hamas, there will be no Hamas.' Did he destroy it? It was just empty talk. First, let them start a ground operation. Then we can talk. For now, this is idle talk," the commentator shared.
Earlier this month, on October 7, Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), launched surprise attacks on Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip, attacking civilians and taking hostages. Tel Aviv declared war on Hamas and allied groups and imposed a complete blockade on the Gaza Strip. The IDF has conducted a series of airstrikes on the region, as well as limited raids. So far, the Israeli military has not launched a large-scale ground operation in Gaza to defeat Palestinian militants. The conflict has already claimed the lives of over 1,200 Israelis and approximately 5,000 Palestinians, with many more injured on both sides of the conflict.