The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing US officials, that Israel has set up a large system of pumps that could flood the tunnels under the Gaza strip used by Hamas fighters. The report said that Israel’s army finished installing at least five pumps near the Al-Shati refugee camp in mid-November. The pumps could transfer thousands of cubic meters of water per hour and fill up the tunnels in weeks. The story said it was unclear if Israel would use the pumps before freeing all the hostages. Hamas has said before that it has hidden the captives in “safe places and tunnels

When asked about the story, a US official said it made sense for Israel to render the tunnels inoperable and that the country was exploring a range of ways to do that.

Israel’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Wall Street Journal said an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) official declined to comment on the flooding plan but was quoted as saying: “The IDF is operating to dismantle Hamas’s terror capabilities in various ways, using different military and technological tools.”

Israel first informed the United States of the option last month, the Wall Street Journal said, reporting that officials did not know how close Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was to carrying out the plan.

Israel has not made a final decision to go ahead or rule it out, the officials were cited as saying.