When it hit Dec. 10, Gazans were not aware that Alexa, the storm that buffeted the Gaza Strip, would have military and security repercussions. Local media sources reported that the flooding caused by the storm has revealed the locations of tunnels used by the resistance. This time around, however, the tunnels were located not only on the border with Egypt but in other parts of the Gaza Strip as well. As a result, the Israeli intelligence service deployed its agents to spot their locations.

Following the end of the storm and amid the resulting humanitarian crisis, Palestinians found out something they had not expected. a report published by Al-Majd, a Palestinian security issues website, announced that the Israeli forces had deliberately opened the dams and drowned a large swath of the Gaza Strip — particularly the border areas — with the aim of locating and destroying the tunnels established by the resistance.

The report added, “As soon as the storm started, Israeli intelligence immediately deployed its agents and secretly exploited its techniques in drowned areas to detect underground tunnels that were damaged by water.”

The Emergency Committee in the Gaza Strip confirmed Dec. 13, during the Alexa flooding that drowned a number of residential neighborhoods, that Israel deliberately opened dams built on the border with Gaza, resulting in major flooding that affected the areas of Wadi Gaza, Beit Hanoun and Wadi Salqa.