Inside a network of tunnels in Gaza, Israeli troops say they have found a Hamas cell used to hold hostages

Published

12 months ago

February 7, 2024

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The road into Gaza is a boggy quagmire. We drove for over an hour, in heavily armoured Israeli military vehicles, through deserted and destroyed neighbourhoods in the south of the strip.

There are no windows to see out of, but from the video feed on the small screens inside the cab I didn’t spot a single sign of civilian life and not a building untouched by months of war.

Khan Younis has witnessed the heaviest fighting in recent weeks – we were the first journalists to get access into the centre of the city since the war began.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) says it has control, but during our time there, gunfire was pretty constant and drones flew low overhead. The battle didn’t seem to be over.

We had been brought by the IDF to see a tunnel network running under the city.

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Deep under Khan Younis, 25 metres down, the narrow tunnels are oppressively hot and narrow, but at times open up into more spacious living quarters with bathrooms, kitchens and sleep areas.

And then something more sinister – a cell with metal bars and door which the IDF says was used to hold hostages.

They claim to have DNA proof three of the released hostages were in here.

“If anybody in the world needs evidence for the horrific actions that the terror entity Hamas has done, you’re in it,” says General Dan Goldfuss, commanding officer of the 98th Paratrooper Division that captured the city.

Above ground, fierce gun battles were going on nearby.

Drones flew low overhead and there was the occasional boom of explosions.

In the dense heart of the city, it was hard to orientate and know how close the fighting was, but the soldiers with us took up positions, their guns pointed down the streets around us.

After four months of fighting, the Israeli military has not yet found many of the tunnels and they have not yet eliminated Hamas.

‘War is not a pretty sight – my people were killed’

“The Palestinian people here have paid, and are paying, an almighty price for this,” I put it to General Goldfuss.

“They are,” he agreed. “But so am I. I think they should turn their rage towards Hamas.”

But they have nothing to come back to and will turn their rage towards you, I suggested.

“Maybe, maybe they will. But at the end of the day, it’s war up top and it’s war down here,” he replies. “War is not a pretty sight. My people were killed on 7 October 2023, they were slaughtered and burnt. What would Britain do if a terror entity entered Britain?”

Israel promised this would be a war like nothing before. Its forces and politicians vowed to defeat Hamas and bring the hostages home.

The country’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has said a ground operation will soon begin in Rafah in the far south – the one remaining urban centre that IDF troops have not yet entered.

It is also where more than a million people have fled to, and one of the last remaining ‘safe zones’, although it comes under regular attack from airstrikes.

Warnings of ‘catastrophe’ if IDF pushes south

Egypt, worried that there will be an exodus of refugees over the border, has expressed grave concerns about the IDF entering Rafah.

Humanitarian organisations have warned of a catastrophe.

More than 27,000 Palestinians have already been killed since the start of the conflict, at least 16,000 of them estimated to be civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

Still, Israel continues to fight. More than 1,200 people were killed by Hamas in the attacks on 7 October. Hundreds more were taken hostage.

But with Hamas still fighting too, Israel cannot yet claim victory, and time might be running out.

The framework of a new hostage deal has been agreed upon by Israel and is awaiting Hamas’s approval.

If it goes ahead, there could be an extended pause in fighting which Western and Arab nations will want to turn into a permanent ceasefire.

Whenever the end does come, it’s hard to imagine what will be left of Gaza, because I saw what vengeance looks like – almost total destruction.

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Qatar’s PM says Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal is ‘last chance for Gaza’

Published

3 hours ago

January 17, 2025

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Qatar's PM says Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal is 'last chance for Gaza'

The ceasefire deal is “the last chance for Gaza”, Qatar’s prime minister has said, adding: “Failure is not an option.”

In an exclusive interview with Sky News’ Yalda Hakim, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani warned that “peace won’t happen” if there is not a Palestinian state.

He also criticised parties for the time it took to reach a deal.

Qatar has been one of the key mediators between Israel and Hamas in the more than 15 months since the renewed conflict erupted.

Mr al Thani told Sky News: “What we have reached with this deal is the last chance for Gaza. To save Gaza from this war this is our last chance.

“When we talk about peace in general, peace won’t happen without a Palestinian state at the end of the day. To address the root cause of the issue and not to just address the symptoms of the issue.”

Gaza ceasefire agreement latest: Israel’s security cabinet recommends approving deal

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Asked what the consequences of the ceasefire deal collapsing would be, he said: “Failure is not an option. That’s what all of us should aspire to.

“If it fails we will not give up we will make sure it is rehashed again and the parties are adhering to that.”

Mr al Thani said Qatar’s role was as “guarantor and mediators” and that they would make sure the deal is delivered.

He talked about creating a “safety net” for any issues to be resolved before the deal “explodes”.

Qatar’s prime minister also criticised the negotiating parties for the time it took to agree a deal, saying that it was the same framework agreed upon in December 2023.

“Which is basically 13-months of a waste of negotiating the details that has no meaning and is not worth a single life that we lost in Gaza or a single life of the hostages lost because of the bombing.”

He also touched on US president-elect Donald Trump, who he said could “create a greater impact for the region”.

Commenting on how the incoming administration has operated during negotiations, he said: “I believe if this continues to be the attitude and approach for the next four years, we can create a lot of good things for the region.”

Elaborating on the need for a Palestinian state next to an Israeli state, he said: “That’s what we are aiming for.

“And I believe this moment we count on the wisdom of the leadership of the world. To really push for a solution at the end to the day.”

World

Israel’s security cabinet recommends approving Gaza ceasefire deal

Published

6 hours ago

January 17, 2025

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Israel's security cabinet recommends approving Gaza ceasefire deal

Israel’s security cabinet has approved a deal with Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages and prisoners.

It will now go to the full cabinet for final sign-off, with a meeting said to be scheduled for this afternoon.

A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said approval came “after examining all political, security and humanitarian aspects” and with the understanding it “supports the achievement of the war’s goals”.

Live – Gaza ceasefire agreement latest

If passed, the truce could begin on Sunday.

In its first stage, the deal would see 33 of the 98 hostages freed over the course of six weeks. About half of the 98 are believed to be alive.

The remainder are to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first.

Hamas has said it won’t release everyone without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.

Between 990 and 1,650 Palestinian prisoners and detainees will be released in exchange, depending on the number of hostages freed.

Hardliners in Israel’s coalition government have criticised the deal as giving in to Hamas and security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to resign if it was approved.

However, he said he wouldn’t bring down the government and ministers are expected to approve it.

The ceasefire has been long in the works and there have been false dawns, but on Wednesday a deal was done after mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the US.

Israel has continued strikes on Gaza in the meantime, and Palestinian officials said 86 people were killed the day after the agreement was unveiled.

More than 46,000 people have been killed in Israel’s offensive in Gaza – mostly women and children – according to officials there.

Around 1,200 were murdered in Israel – alongside more than 250 who were kidnapped – in the October 2023 Hamas terror attack that started the war.

Israel has said it wants to wipe out the group and that it’s killed some 17,000 of its fighters.

However, it’s been accused of not doing enough to protect civilians – claims it denies – in a war that’s devastated Gaza, displaced hundreds of thousands and left many starving.

The World Health Organisation has said it should be possible to dramatically increase Gaza aid to about 600 trucks a day under the deal.

An average of 51 entered in early January, according to UN data.

World

Flights forced to divert to avoid debris from SpaceX Starship explosion

Published

6 hours ago

January 17, 2025

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Flights forced to divert to avoid debris from SpaceX Starship explosion

Dozens of planes have been forced to divert or fly holding patterns to avoid potential debris from the SpaceX rocket that blew up.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it briefly slowed and re-routed planes in the area where the pieces were falling back to earth.

Tracking app FlightRadar24 said its most-watched flights last night after the “rapid unscheduled disassembly” – as Space X called it – were those holding or diverting over the Caribbean.

It appeared to show several planes flying circular holding patterns, including a Spirit jet heading to Puerto Rico and an Air Transat flight bound for the Dominican Republic.

A Boeing 767 transporting Amazon cargo diverted to Nassau in the Bahamas, while a JetBlue flight turned back to where it began in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The FAA often closes airspace for space missions and can create a “debris response area” to protect aircraft if a rocket has a problem outside the original closed zone.

Spectacular video on social media showed the debris from the 400ft Starship rocket streaking across the sky, with another clip showing it from the cockpit of a small plane.

Despite the rocket blowing up, SpaceX owner Elon Musk appeared to see the bright side, posting on X: “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!”

SpaceX launched the rocket from Boca Chica, south Texas, on Thursday around 4.40pm local time (10.40pm in the UK).

The flight was the seventh test for the newly-upgraded Starship, which was due to make a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean about an hour after launch.

But the company said it lost contact about eight and half minutes into the flight, with the last data indicating an altitude of 90 miles and a velocity of 13,245 mph.

There was some success though – the booster section returned to a launchpad and was caught between two giant mechanical arms.

It’s the second time SpaceX has managed this particular feat and it’s part of its effort to reuse hardware and make space travel cheaper – with getting to Mars the big aim.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket also successfully launched two moon landers earlier this week, while Jeff Bezos also had a big win early Thursday morning.

The Amazon boss’s company, Blue Origin, put its New Glenn rocket into orbit for the first time.