The Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, announced this Sunday, October 12, that the Israeli army will destroy, after the release of the hostages held in the Gaza Strip, all Hamas tunnels in Palestinian territory.
On the third day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Israel Katz highlighted in a statement that these operations will be carried out within the framework of the “international mechanism (…) under the supervision of the United States.”
“Israel’s great challenge after the hostage restitution stage will be the destruction of all Hamas terrorist tunnels in Gaza,” he said. “I have ordered the army to prepare for this mission,” he added.
A network of tunnels under the Gaza Strip
Hamas has a network of tunnels under the Gaza Strip, used in particular by its armed wing. Israel claimed to have destroyed many of them in more than two years of war, triggered by the Islamist movement’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Under a ceasefire agreement with Israel announced Thursday, Hamas must hand over the 48 remaining hostages in Gaza, dead or alive, all but one kidnapped during this attack.
In exchange, Israel must release 250 “security detainees,” including many convicted of deadly anti-Israel attacks, and 1,700 Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in Gaza since October 2023. Hamas confirmed on Saturday that the hostages would be released on Monday.
“Difficult” negotiations
Israel Katz specified that the destruction of the tunnels would occur within the framework of the “demilitarization” of the Islamist movement provided for by Donald Trump’s plan, the second phase of which has yet to be negotiated. A Hamas executive warned Saturday against “difficult” negotiations on the issue.
Hossam Badran, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, stated in particular that it was “impossible” for the Islamist movement to disarm. Hamas has mentioned on several occasions in 2025 a gradual dismantling of its arsenal (stopping the production of new rockets, destroying tunnels to Israel, etc.), but on condition that it is accompanied by a political project that leads to the end of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
This Islamist movement, considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Israel and the European Union, has repeatedly reaffirmed that, in the absence of a Palestinian armed force, it reserves the “right to resist the Israeli occupation.”
Source: BFM TV
