Israeli Defense Minister Orders Destruction of Gaza Tunnels: There Will Be No Hamas
In a move signaling the Israeli army’s determination to dismantle Hamas’s infrastructure, the Israeli Defense Minister has ordered the complete destruction of all tunnels within the Gaza Strip.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, Minister Katz announced: “I have instructed the IDF to destroy every tunnel in Gaza—down to the very last one.”
He added, “If there are no tunnels, there will be no Hamas.”
Last week, Katz explained that the process of demilitarizing Gaza goes beyond disarming militant factions—it also involves completely eliminating Hamas’s tunnel network. He noted that he had directed the army to make this issue a top priority in the “yellow zone,” which remains under Israeli control.
According to The New York Times, which cited three Israeli security officials, dozens of armed militants remain in areas controlled by Israel inside Gaza. The Israeli army is preventing them from leaving safely, posing a challenge to mediators attempting to strengthen the fragile truce between Tel Aviv and Hamas.
As part of the ceasefire agreement that ended a two-year war, Israel has redeployed its forces inside Gaza but continues to control roughly half of the territory.
The officials, speaking to the American newspaper, said it is believed that some of these militants are hiding in tunnels beneath the southern city of Rafah. The length of their stay in those areas remains unclear.
A source close to Hamas leadership confirmed the presence of militants beyond the Israeli withdrawal line, known as the “yellow line.”
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, along with several regional mediators, has stated that it is working to turn the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas into a lasting peace.
Last month, Israel and Hamas reached a truce agreement under which all twenty surviving hostages in Gaza were released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
However, each week has brought new challenges to the fragile truce amid renewed bouts of violence between the two sides.
Tensions have arisen over the return of the hostages’ remains, several of which are still held in Gaza. Israel has accused Hamas of delaying the transfer, which was supposed to take place during the first phase of the deal.
Hamas, in response, has stated that some bodies were lost under the rubble or could not be located because the fighters who buried them were killed during the war.
At least six hostages’ bodies are believed to remain in Gaza.
Since the truce began, Israeli forces have targeted Palestinians accused of crossing the withdrawal lines, including a civilian car carrying members of a large family, killing at least nine people, among them children.
Meanwhile, the United States is seeking a United Nations Security Council mandate to deploy an “international stabilization force” in Gaza. The force would oversee the disarmament process, ensure the handover of weapons from militant factions, and support the training of Palestinian police.
However, it remains unclear how such an international force could effectively guarantee Gaza’s disarmament, as Hamas insists it will not dismantle its military wing or surrender its weapons.
