JERUSALEM – Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) will move to destroy the network of tunnels beneath the Gaza Strip once the remaining Israeli hostages are handed over by Hamas, officials and news agencies report.
Katz made the declaration on social media as a fragile ceasefire held and an exchange of prisoners and hostages was due to take place.
He said he had ordered the military to prepare to begin destroying the subterranean passages “through the international mechanism that will be established under the leadership and supervision of the U.S.” once the hostages are released. In a fuller post, he added:
“Israel’s great challenge after the phase of returning the hostages will be the destruction of all of Hamas’s terror tunnels in Gaza, directly by the IDF and through the international mechanism to be established under the leadership and supervision of the United States. … I have instructed the IDF to prepare for carrying out the mission.”
Officials have not detailed how the demolition would be executed or how international oversight would operate in practice, particularly given that Israeli forces have pulled back from some areas of Gaza as part of the temporary truce.
Katz’s comments frame tunnel destruction as part of a broader aim to demilitarise Gaza and completely destroy Hamas’s weaponry; Israeli leaders say the underground network has been instrumental in past attacks and in sustaining militant operations.
The announcement comes amid diplomatic activity involving the United States, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which helped broker the initial phase of the ceasefire and the prisoner-hostage arrangements.
Humanitarian organisations and Palestinian authorities in Gaza are now coordinating the delivery of aid and the return of displaced people, while many observers warn that any subsequent military actions to dismantle tunnels will be politically and logistically fraught and could risk renewed violence.
As the exchange proceeds, attention will focus on how Israel plans to carry out its stated objective, what role international partners will assume in supervision, and whether the measures proposed will address wider questions over Gaza’s future governance and security.
Sources: Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AntiWar
