Israeli army shows reporters tunnels in southern Gaza

RAFAH - The Israeli army took reporters on Sept 13 to tunnels uncovered by troops in southern Gaza, including the entrance to an underground chamber where the bodies of

six Israeli hostages killed

by Hamas were recovered on Sept 1.

The military did not allow reporters into the tunnel, in the Tel al-Sultan area of Rafah, for security reasons. But it has released footage showing a cramped and airless passage it said was about 20m below ground, where it said the hostages had been held, possibly for weeks.

“There is a complete maze of tunnels here in Tel al-Sultan,” Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters, standing next to the shaft leading down to the tunnel, located in what appears to have been a child’s room in a destroyed house.

“We need to do everything we can, by all means, to bring them back home,” he said, referring to the 101 hostages who Israel says are still being held by Hamas militants.

The Israeli military has said the six hostages were killed on the night of Aug 29 and their bodies were recovered by troops around two days later.

The Tel al-Sultan tunnel is part of what the military has said is a large network uncovered by Israeli forces operating around Rafah, near the border with Egypt. Troops have uncovered around 13km of underground tunnel routes over the past few months, the army said this week.

In addition to the shaft leading to the tunnel where the hostages were killed, the military also showed reporters a wide tunnel large enough for a truck to drive through, which led into Egypt but which was blocked from the Egyptian side.

In stark contrast to the wreckage of buildings in Gaza destroyed in months of combat between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters, the roadway along the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, in the area bordering Egypt, was freshly asphalted.

Apart from rare visits escorted by the military, foreign media organisations have not been allowed to enter Gaza since Israel invaded the enclave after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct 7 that killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and saw more than 250 taken hostage.

Much of Gaza has been destroyed in the Israeli campaign, and most of the 2.3 million population have been driven from their homes. More than 41,000 people have been killed, according to Palestinian health ministry figures.

As a condition of taking reporters on Sept 13’s visit, the military required images to be submitted for review by the military censor, but they did not stop any being published. REUTERS