Israel and Hamas at war, day 72 | Israel says it has discovered Gaza’s ‘largest tunnel’

The Israeli army announced on Sunday that it had discovered Hamas’ “largest tunnel” under the besieged Gaza Strip, where Israel continues its deadly strikes despite pressing calls for a ceasefire.

“This massive network of tunnels, which is divided into several branches, extends for more than four kilometers and comes only 400 meters from the Erez crossing point”, between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip , indicated the Israeli armed forces.

This tunnel was unveiled to the press at 72^e day of the war started on October 7 by a bloody attack by Hamas on Israeli soil from the Gaza Strip, which left some 1,140 dead, mostly civilians.

In retaliation, the Israeli army launched a military offensive which left more than 18,800 people dead in the Gaza Strip, 70% of them women, children and adolescents.

The underground network was discovered by Israeli soldiers leading the ground operation since October 27, which continues throughout the Gaza Strip, including in the south where hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by the war have gathered.

According to an AFP journalist authorized to go there, the tunnel is equipped with a system of pipes, electricity, ventilation, sewers, communication networks and rails.

The army claims to have discovered a large number of weapons there ready to be used in the event of an attack by Hamas.

The neutralization of the tunnels is one of the priorities of the Israeli operation, while the Gaza Strip would be dug with 1,300 galleries over 500 kilometers, according to estimates from the Institute of Modern Warfare at the American military academy West Point.

“Immediate and lasting truce”

Visiting Israel on Sunday, the head of French diplomacy Catherine Colonna expressed Paris’ concerns about the scale of civilian victims, and called for an “immediate and lasting” truce.

“Too many civilians are being killed,” she declared after a meeting with her counterpart Eli Cohen, who considered that “any call for a ceasefire” was “a gift to Hamas.” .

The head of British diplomacy David Cameron and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock called for “a lasting ceasefire”, as quickly as possible, in a joint article published by the Sunday Times. But they are opposed to a “general and immediate ceasefire”, believing that Hamas “must lay down its arms”.

Israel’s main allies, the United States will be represented in the coming days by American Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is due to meet leaders in Israel, but also in Bahrain and Qatar.

He should in particular discuss the tensions caused by the attacks in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, presented as responses to the war between Israel and Hamas. Several global shipping giants have announced that they will interrupt the passage of their ships through this major commercial maritime route.

” Bloodbath ”

The Hamas Health Ministry on Sunday deplored the death of 24 Palestinians killed in the Jabaliya camp during an Israeli bombardment.

Other strikes killed at least twelve people in the town of Deir al-Balah on Sunday, according to the Hamas government.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the emergency department of al-Chifa hospital in northern Gaza has become “a bloodbath”, with hundreds of injured patients and new ones arriving. every minute “.

The bombings left much of the territory in ruins and the UN estimates that 1.9 million of Gazans’ 2.4 million people have been displaced by the war.

“I would not be surprised if people started dying of hunger, or a combination of hunger, disease and low immunity,” denounced Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). .

To alleviate shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel, Israel began letting in humanitarian aid from the Kerem Shalom crossing, on the border with Egypt, following an agreement with the United States. United.

Objective: to relieve the Rafah terminal, which was the only one through which humanitarian aid entered.

A source from the Egyptian Red Crescent, equivalent to the Red Cross, told AFP that 79 trucks passed through this terminal on Sunday.

Furthermore, telecommunications, which had been cut off on Thursday, were being restored at the end of the day on Sunday.

“Military pressure”

Outside Gaza, the Palestinian authority deplored the deaths on Sunday of five new Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where violence has flared since the start of the war.

Israel also regularly exchanges fire across its northern border with Lebanon, mainly with the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah supported by Iran.

Catherine Colonna is due to travel to Lebanon on Monday to call on all parties to “de-escalate” on this front.

In Israel, pressure on the government has increased since Friday’s announcement of the death of three hostages killed by soldiers who mistakenly took them for Palestinian fighters.

They were among around 250 people captured in the October 7 attack, 129 of whom remain in Hamas hands.

After a first one-week truce at the end of November, Mr. Netanyahu judged that “military pressure” remained necessary to bring back the hostages and break Hamas.

Qatar confirmed “ongoing diplomatic efforts” on Saturday.

Hamas, however, declared itself “against any negotiations on the exchange of prisoners until the aggression against our people ceases completely.”