Lies continue to come out, is anything the IDF says true?
Israeli army fabricated Gaza tunnel discovery to stall ceasefire: Report
An investigation by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan has found that the Israeli military fabricated the discovery of a tunnel in the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, saying instead that the structure was a shallow canal.
In August, the army published photos of what it said was a tunnel in the demilitarised area along the border.
“There was never a tunnel, but a canal covered in dirt,” Kan said.
The purpose of this assertion “was to exaggerate the importance of the Philadelphi Corridor and delay a hostage deal”, it added.
According to Kan, former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant backed the findings, saying, “It was not a tunnel, but rather an attempt to prevent a ceasefire agreement.”
Gallant said the structure was only about 1 metre (3.3ft) deep and was misleadingly presented to the public as a deep tunnel.
“It was promoted to the public as a deep tunnel to prevent reaching a deal with Hamas,” he added.
Israeli military needs additional $2.6bn to expand Gaza war: Report
The Israeli army estimates that it will need an additional 10 billion shekels ($2.6bn) to expand its war on the Gaza Strip with a large-scale ground operation, according to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
“It is inconceivable that, beyond the nearly $31bn already allocated – including the use of a $2.6bn reserve fund – another $2.6bn could be added to an already inflated defence budget,” a senior official told the newspaper.
The daily reported that the additional money would be used to seize about 40 percent of Gaza’s territory in the coming weeks, enhancing the security of Israeli settlements near the Gaza border and preventing the resumption of rocket fire into Israel.
According to the figures released by the Israeli economics newspaper Calcalist earlier this year, Israel spent 250 billion shekels ($67.57bn) in 2024 for its military onslaught on the Gaza Strip.
Israel deletes condolences over Pope Francis’s death
The Israeli government shared and then deleted a social media post offering condolences over the death of Pope Francis, without saying why, though an Israeli newspaper linked the decision to the late pontiff’s criticism of the war in Gaza.
The verified @Israel account had posted on Monday a message on social media platform X that read: “Rest in Peace, Pope Francis. May his memory be a blessing”, alongside an image of the pope visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Post quoted officials at the Foreign Ministry as saying that the pope had made “statements against Israel” and that the social media post had been published in “error”.
Francis, who died on Monday aged 88, suggested last November that the global community should study whether Israel’s military campaign in Gaza constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people, in some of his most explicit criticism yet of Israel’s conduct in its war with Hamas that began in October 2023.
