The Israeli military publicly acknowledged it has started pumping water into parts of the vast network of tunnels beneath Gaza used by Hamas.

Israeli forces have “implemented new capabilities to neutralize underground terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip by channeling large volumes of water into the tunnels,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Tuesday, their first public acknowledgment of the controversial practice.

Despite Hamas’s use of the tunnels to move freely, store weapons, launch attacks targeting Israel, and keep the hostages, flooding them could have environmental impacts long after the war ends.

“Israel’s flooding of tunnels with saltwater could have severe adverse human rights impacts, some long term,” the U.N. Human Rights Office said in December. “Goods indispensable to civilian survival could also be at risk, as well as widespread, long-term & severe environmental damage. Civilians must be protected.”

In 2021, Hamas claimed to have built more than 300 miles worth of tunnels underneath Gazan cities, hospitals, and schools over more than a decade. The tunnels pose a significant threat to Israeli ground forces, though flooding them would allow Israeli forces to avoid having to go in the tunnels themselves.

Some of the more sophisticated tunnels contain electricity and communication lines.

The IDF said the method is “only utilized in locations where it is suitable” and added, “The IDF takes into consideration the soil and water systems in the area, matching the method of operation to each specific case. This is a significant tool in combating the threat of Hamas’ underground terrorist infrastructure.”

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Hamas and other militants from Gaza took roughly 240 people hostage during their Oct. 7 attack that ignited the war. About 100 of them were freed during a weeklong cessation of hostilities in late November, but even more remain in Gaza, their well-being unknown.

The United States, Qatari, and Egyptian governments have acted as intermediaries between Israel and Hamas, and their conversations for a new ceasefire and hostage release agreement remain ongoing, though there is little evidence of an imminent deal.