IDF shows media a Hamas tunnel, where holes drop several metres deeper to other parts of the network
Hamas has always had a reputation for having some of the best underground tunnels of any militia.
In a media tour arranged by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) into Gaza, one of the most impressive tunnels the Israeli military has discovered was on full display.
The entrance was just inside Gaza, only a few hundred metres from the Erez border crossing with Israel, where there was a gaping hole in the sand.
IDF troops at the entrance to the tunnel they say was built by Hamas
Inside was a heavily fortified tunnel, and without doubt the largest tunnel I have ever seen in Gaza.
There was plenty of room inside the reinforced concrete tunnel. A steel pipe ran along the top of it, and electricity cables dangled inside.
The IDF said the tunnel ran for more than two miles into central Gaza City.
It’s no secret Hamas has been building its tunnel infrastructure for years. It uses them to transport fighters, not only belonging to Hamas but also other militant groups like Islamic Jihad, from one end of the strip to the other.
Tunnels are also used to move and store weapons, launch attacks against Israel and, in this war, to hold hostages.
With every war with Israel, tunnels are destroyed and rebuilt again. But the extent of the labyrinth beneath Gaza is difficult to fathom, it’s believed it may stretch 150-200 miles.
There were no lights inside. The IDF had placed a metal grid on the floor to cover holes in the ground that dropped by up to 15 metres, down to other parts of the subterranean complex.
Metal grids cover holes that drop by up to 15 metres, down to other parts of the subterranean complex
Cables dangled from the roof of the tunnel
One IDF spokesman told me the degree of sophistication and engineering used to build and maintain these tunnels was “impressive”.
In the distance you could hear small arms fire and occasional explosions. Smoke hung over the northeastern tip of Gaza, and you could see large blocks of apartments, reduced to rubble.
The land inside Gaza next to the Israel border, which is known as the buffer zone, was churned up by Israeli tanks and bulldozers.
The IDF’s automatic machine gun towers – which surround the Gaza strip and are positioned along the wall – were clearly heavily damaged in the 7 October attack by Hamas.
The covered walkway from the Erez crossing into Gaza was destroyed, along with Israeli border offices adjacent to the crossing.
Hamas has long promoted its network of tunnels on its official television news station, but I can’t recall them ever allowing journalists to visit those it built for fighting.
Block after block of flats in northern Gaza reduced to rubble
Israel insists its war must continue until the tunnels are destroyed and Hamas is defeated. Its media tour was aimed at showing journalists what they were dealing with beneath Gaza.
The problem is the tunnels are embedded into the Gaza strip. This tiny strip of land is among the most densely populated places on earth, so of course the tunnels run deep below homes, schools and neighbourhoods.
Hamas has been perfecting its tunnel-building over the last 20 years. Members of the group and smuggling barons constructed them under the southern Egyptian border after Israel imposed its siege on Gaza in 2006.
I have visited the underground networks at the bottom of Gaza over the years, and they were crude in comparison to the one we were shown in the north.
In the south, the tunnels were carved out of sand, often only high enough to crawl through, and the men who dug them were often killed when ceilings collapsed.
Entrance to the tunnel
IDF soldiers took media on a tour of one tunnel
While this war continues, Hamas’s fighters are still holed up inside these subterranean passages, as are Israeli hostages.
It’s left the IDF with a dilemma: how to destroy the network without killing hostages in the process.
As for Gaza’s civilian infrastructure above ground, the United Nations says 45% of the territory’s housing stock has been destroyed.
Israel says it wants to protect civilians during this war, but Gaza’s Health officials say that more than 21,000 Palestinians have been killed so far.
The tunnels have given Hamas a tremendous military strategic advantage in this war – Israel wants them destroyed once and for all.
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The COP29 climate talks have reached a last ditch deal on cash for developing countries, pulling the summit back from the brink of collapse after a group of countries stormed out of a negotiating room earlier.
The slew of deals finally signed off in the small hours of Sunday morning in Azerbaijan includes one that proved hardest of all – one about money.
Eventually the more than 190 countries in Baku agreed a target for richer polluting countries such as the UK, EU and Japan to drum up $300bn a year by 2035 to help poorer nations both curb and adapt to climate change.
It is a far cry from the $1.3trn experts say is needed, and from the $500bn that vulnerable countries like Uganda had said they would be willing to accept.
But in the end they were forced to, knowing they could not afford to live without it, nor wait until next year to try again, when a Donald Trump presidency would make things even harder.
Bolivia’s lead negotiator Diego Pacheco called it an “insult”, while the Marshall Islands’ Tina Stege said it was “not nearly enough, but it’s a start”.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell said: “This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country.
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do. So this is no time for victory laps.”
The funding deal was clinched more than 24 hours into overtime, and against what felt like all the odds.
The talks were rocked from the start by the incoming presidency of climate denier Mr Trump, the moment Argentina’s team were recalled back to Buenos Aires by their right-wing president and a controversial letter that sent shockwaves through the United Nations.
Pic: AP
The fraught two weeks of negotiations pitted the anger of developing countries who are footing the bill for more dangerous weather that they did little to cause, against the tight public finances of rich countries.
A relieved Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, climate envoy for Panama, said there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.
Just hours ago, the talks almost fell apart as furious vulnerable nations stormed out of negotiations in frustration over that elusive funding goal.
They were also angry with oil and gas producing countries, who stood accused of trying to dilute aspects of the deal on cutting fossil fuels.
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Climate-vulnerable nations storm out of talks
The UN talks work on consensus, meaning everyone has to agree for a deal to fly.
A row over how to follow up on last year’s pledge to “transition away from fossil fuels” was left unresolved and punted into next year, following objections from Chile and Switzerland for being too weak.
A draft deal simply “reaffirmed” the commitment but did not dial up the pressure in the way the UK, EU, island states and many others here wanted.
Saudi Arabia fought the hardest against any step forward on cutting fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change that is intensifying floods, drought and fires around the world.
Governments did manage to strike a deal on carbon markets at COP29, which has been 10 years in the making and will allow countries to trade emissions cuts.
‘Not everything we wanted’
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The UK’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said the deal is “not everything we or others wanted”, but described it as a “step forward”.
“It’s a deal that will drive forward the clean energy transition, which is essential for jobs and growth in Britain and for protecting us all against the worsening climate crisis,” he added.
“Today’s agreement sends the signal that the clean energy transition is unstoppable.
“It is the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century and through our championing of it we can help crowd in private investment.”
Protesters at the summit in Baku. Pic: AP
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The Azerbaijan team leading COP29 said: “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator.
“We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.”
At least 20 people have been killed and 66 injured in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.
Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dig through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.
The attack destroyed an eight-storey residential building and badly damaged several others around it in the Basta neighbourhood at 4am (2am UK time) on Saturday.
The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut
The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack and has not commented on the casualties.
At least four bombs were dropped in the attack – the fourth targeting the city centre this week.
A separate drone strike in the southern port city of Tyre this morning killed two people and injured three, according to the state-run National News Agency.
The victims were Palestinian refugees from the nearby al Rashidieh camp who were out fishing, according to Mohammed Bikai, spokesperson for the Fatah Palestinian faction in the Tyre area.
Israel’s military warned residents today in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs that they were near Hezbollah facilities, which the army would target in the near future. The warning, posted on X, told people to evacuate at least 500 metres away.
The army said that over the past day it had conducted intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It said it hit several command centres and weapons storage facilities.
Pic: AP
Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.
Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 3,670 people have been killed in Israeli attacks there, with more than 15,400 wounded.
It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.
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‘Dozens’ of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike
Meanwhile, six people, including three children and two women, were killed in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.
Some 44,176 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.
US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.
Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.
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