Gallant: Israeli Army Faked Gaza Tunnel Photo to Justify Military Presence
Yoav Gallant says a photo used to claim the discovery of a massive tunnel in Gaza was staged to delay a prisoner deal and exaggerate military threats.
Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has acknowledged that a widely circulated photo released by the Israeli military—allegedly showing a large tunnel in the Philadelphi Corridor near the Gaza-Egypt border—was misleading.
According to the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (KAN), Gallant stated that the supposed tunnel never existed. What was actually discovered was a shallow trench only about one meter deep.
He said the photo was used to support claims about the existence of tunnels along the corridor, to exaggerate the strategic significance of the Philadelphi Road, and ultimately to stall progress on a prisoner exchange deal.
The image in question was first circulated last August by Israeli media, which described it as proof of a massive, multi-level tunnel allegedly built by Palestinian resistance groups.
At the time, it was hailed as a major discovery—a three-story tunnel said to be part of an extensive underground network that reportedly stunned Israeli troops.
Gallant has now revealed that the photo served a political purpose: to underscore the supposed threat posed by the Philadelphi Corridor and to justify military actions under the pretext of disrupting arms smuggling, despite the claim being unfounded.
In reality, the “tunnel” shown in the image was a standard drainage channel, and the military vehicle featured in the photo was simply positioned to enhance the illusion.
At the time of the photo’s publication, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that the army would not withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor, regardless of opposition from within Israel’s security and military establishments.
“We will not back down from our demand regarding the Philadelphi Corridor, and I do not care about the position of the security services,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying during a meeting with the families of the female soldiers.
(PC, AJA)