Israel Uncovers Tunnel from Gaza, Military Says Holds Hamas Responsible

An Israeli soldier stands on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, near the opening of a tunnel leading from Gaza into Israel, near the southern Israeli kibbutz of Kissufim, Israel, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP)
An Israeli soldier stands on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, near the opening of a tunnel leading from Gaza into Israel, near the southern Israeli kibbutz of Kissufim, Israel, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP)
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Israel Uncovers Tunnel from Gaza, Military Says Holds Hamas Responsible

An Israeli soldier stands on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, near the opening of a tunnel leading from Gaza into Israel, near the southern Israeli kibbutz of Kissufim, Israel, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP)
An Israeli soldier stands on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, near the opening of a tunnel leading from Gaza into Israel, near the southern Israeli kibbutz of Kissufim, Israel, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP)

Israel discovered a new cross-border tunnel from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday that its military said extended "dozens of meters underground" and into Israeli territory.

The military said its engineers discovered the tunnel using underground sensors attached to a concrete barrier that, once completed, will run 65 kilometers (40 miles) around Gaza.

Palestinians have used underground tunnels to smuggle in all manner of commercial goods to Gaza, as well as to bring in weapons for militants from the Strip's ruling Hamas group and other factions.

Militants have also used the tunnels to launch attacks inside Israel, which maintains a land and sea blockade of Gaza, citing threats from Hamas.

The new tunnel originates in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, extending across the Israeli border before terminating underground before reaching the barrier, military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said.

He added: "We have not seen an exit point from the tunnel. So, you could deduce from that that the aim was not for the terrorists to emerge from that location, but rather further inside Israel."

Conricus said the military had not yet determined who had built the tunnel, but that it holds "Hamas responsible for everything emanating from the Gaza Strip".

A Hamas spokesman declined comment.

Israel and Hamas last fought a large-scale war in 2014 and have engaged in dozens of smaller cross-border skirmishes since. Hamas and other Gaza fighters have defended the tunnels as part of what they call their preparation for fighting.

Conricus said the military would "neutralize" the tunnel in the coming days. The military has discovered around 20 tunnels since the 2014 war, he added.



US Mideast Envoy: Trump's Gaza Plan is About Better Prospects, Not Eviction

MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 20: Steven Charles Witkoff, Middle East Envoy, Government of the United States, speaks during the second day of the FII PRIORITY Summit held at the Faena Hotel on February 20, 2025 in Miami Beach, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 20: Steven Charles Witkoff, Middle East Envoy, Government of the United States, speaks during the second day of the FII PRIORITY Summit held at the Faena Hotel on February 20, 2025 in Miami Beach, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP
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US Mideast Envoy: Trump's Gaza Plan is About Better Prospects, Not Eviction

MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 20: Steven Charles Witkoff, Middle East Envoy, Government of the United States, speaks during the second day of the FII PRIORITY Summit held at the Faena Hotel on February 20, 2025 in Miami Beach, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 20: Steven Charles Witkoff, Middle East Envoy, Government of the United States, speaks during the second day of the FII PRIORITY Summit held at the Faena Hotel on February 20, 2025 in Miami Beach, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP

The United States' envoy to the Middle East said on Thursday that President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza was not about evicting Palestinians, and the conversation about Gaza's future was being shifted towards how to create a better future for Palestinians.
Trump proposed on February 4 the US should take over Gaza, with Palestinians resettled in other places including Egypt and Jordan, a suggestion which caused an international outcry.
However, speaking at a Miami conference hosted by a non-profit, US envoy Steven Witkoff said that Trump's comments on Gaza were more about trying different solutions to those proposed over the previous 50 years, Reuters reported.
He said that the war between Israel and Hamas has left much of Gaza destroyed and littered with unexploded ordnance, and it was impossible to see how people could return.
"It's going to take a lot of clean-up and imagination, and a great master plan, and that doesn't mean we're on an eviction plan, when the President talks about this," Steven Witkoff told the FII Institute event.
"It means he wants to shake up everyone's thinking, and think about what is compelling and what is the best solution for the Palestinian people.
"For instance, do they want to live in a home there, or would they rather have an opportunity to resettle in some sort of better place, to have jobs, upside and financial prospects," he added.