Israel faked Gaza tunnel discovery to prevent ceasefire: Gallant

An investigation has found that an Israeli picture of an alleged Hamas tunnel in the Philadelphi Corridor which separates Gaza and Egypt was fake and used to prevent a ceasefire deal.

Israel's public broadcaster Kan reported on Wednesday that the claimed Hamas tunnel was in fact "a canal covered in dirt".

The picture was initially published by the Israeli military on the social media platform X on 4 August 2024. It claimed that the tunnel was three meters deep.

“In recent operational activity, [Israeli military] troops eliminated dozens of tunnel routes in the area of the Philadelphi Corridor, and continue to locate additional ones. A three-meter-high tunnel was uncovered in the area at the beginning of last week,” the post said.

Kan cited former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who said in an interview that the trench was only a meter deep and used to prevent a ceasefire deal.

"It was not a tunnel, but an attempt to prevent a ceasefire agreement," he said, adding "it was promoted to the public as a deep tunnel to prevent reaching a deal with Hamas".

Egypt has denied that there were active tunnels on its border with Gaza throughout the duration of the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, has said there will be a permanent Israeli military presence in the corridor, which would violate the Camp David Accords signed with Egypt.

However, Gallant, who is also wanted by the ICC, has disagreed with Netanyahu over the issue, calling the  policy a "moral disgrace" in comments leaked to the Israeli press.

Gallant was sacked by Netanyahu as Defence Minister last November.

In January, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began in Gaza. Israel however broke it and resumed its assault on 18 March, placing the enclave under siege and killing at least 1,928 people since then

Gaza’s Ministry of Health has said that Israeli attacks have killed 51,305 people and wounded a further 117,096 since the war began in October 2023. Thousands of uncounted victims are believed to be trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings.