The Israeli army has pledged to use all means to bring back hostages still held in Gaza, its spokesman told a group of foreign journalists on Friday in the war-scarred city of Rafah.
“We need to do everything we can, in all means, to bring them back home,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told the journalists embedded with the Israeli army.
“This is one of the goals of the war, and we will achieve it.”
Rear Admiral Hagari was speaking in front of a shaft in Rafah’s Tel al-Sultan area that leads to a tunnel where Israel claims Hamas killed six hostages late last month.
Their deaths sparked an outpouring of grief in Israel, as well as resentment towards the government, which critics believe isn’t doing enough to halt the war in Gaza and free the remaining prisoners.
Hamas’ unprecedented strike on Israel sparked the conflict, killing 1,205 people, the majority of whom were civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official data.
The count includes captives who were slain while in captivity.
The militants also took 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still in Gaza, including 33 who the Israeli military claims are dead. Israel’s reaction has killed at least 41,118 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the health ministry.
According to the United Nations Human Rights Office, the majority of those killed were women and children.
During the 12-month-old conflict, Israel has denied international media independent access to Gaza.
Rafah, in Gaza’s far south, has been heavily damaged by the war, and AFPTV footage on Friday showed streets lined with bombed-out building shells, several of which had partially fallen and spilt rubble.
Hagari claimed that the destruction was designed to wipe off the city’s subterranean network.
“You have a maze of tunnels here, a maze of tunnels here in Rafah, underneath the houses. This is why the destruction,” he said.
“There is even not one point left without a tunnel here in Rafah.
“In order to defeat Hamas, we need to take control of this underground system.”
The army also showed journalists the Philadelphi Corridor, a short piece of land that has emerged as a major sticking point in negotiations for a possible truce mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that maintaining control of the passage was critical to preventing any arms smuggling into Gaza from Egypt.
Hamas is demanding Israel’s complete disengagement from the territory.
