Hebrew media reported that the Israeli army is currently not considering flooding Hamas tunnels in Gaza with seawater, as the "Atlantis" project developed for this purpose was unsuccessful. A report by the newspaper "Haaretz" indicated that the Israeli army "no longer thinks about flooding Hamas tunnels in Gaza with seawater, as the Atlantis project developed for this purpose was ineffective, with one of its weaknesses being the risk of abductees drowning inside the tunnels."
The newspaper added that this project was supposed to provide a relatively new response to one of the complex fronts in Gaza, recognized by the Israeli Defense Forces as a significant engineering and technological advancement in dealing with underground challenges.
"Haaretz" explained that "after about six months since the project's disclosure, it became clear that it was no longer in use, and no one in the army knows how to quantify the benefits achieved by this costly project." The investigation relied on conversations with several sources familiar with the project’s development and operation, in addition to documents and protocols from closed discussions involving senior military officers and professionals, revealing a set of failures in its management.
The newspaper confirmed that "the system began operating even before obtaining the necessary opinions that the army requested from specialists, as pressure from Major General Yaron Finkelman, commander of the Southern Command of the Israeli army, was applied to expedite the use of this system."
