Israel’s Gaza bombardment rises after talk on hostages

Global calls for ceasefire, pleas from relatives of hostages gather pace

Cairo, Gaza, Jerusalem, Dec. 17:

Israel stepped up its bombardment of Gaza overnight and into Sunday, killing at least 40 people, Palestinians said, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that the only way to secure the release of hostages was intense military pressure on Hamas.

International calls for a ceasefire and pleas from desperate relatives to bring home the remaining hostages gathered pace.

French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, the latest foreign envoy visiting Israel, called for an “immediate and durable” truce leading to a lasting ceasefire, stressing that “too many civilians are being killed”.

Her British and German counterparts, David Cameron and Annalena Baerbock wrote that they “support a ceasefire, but only if it is sustainable ... We do not believe that calling right now for a general and immediate ceasefire, hoping it somehow becomes permanent, is the way forward.”

Israeli forces battling Hamas said they had uncovered an unusually large concrete and irongirded tunnel, designed to carry carloads of militant fighters from Gaza right up to the border.

Among sites that Hamas overran in that attack was the Erez border crossing between Gaza

and Israel. Just 100 metres (yards) south of the checkpoint, concealed in a sand dune, the military showed reporters the exit point of what it said was a flagship Hamas project.

The tunnel ran down diagonally to a depth of 50 metres, where it expanded to a relatively capacious 3 metres (10 feet) in height and width,

with electrical fittings.

Chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari put the full length of the tunnel at 4 km (2.5 miles) — enough to reach into northern Gaza City, once the heart of Hamas governance and now a devastated combat zone.

It was “the biggest tunnel we found in Gaza ... meant to target the (Erez)

crossing,” Hagari said.

However, he did not specify whether it was used by Hamas for the Oct. 7 attack.

"Millions of dollars were invested in this tunnel. It took years to build this tunnel ... Vehicles could drive through."

Hamas did not respond to a Reuters request for comment the Israeli account. —