The Israeli military has used a fabricated tunnel discovery in the besieged Gaza Strip to stall a captive/prisoner exchange deal, Israeli public broadcaster KAN says.

In an investigative report, KAN revealed that the Israeli military has fabricated the discovery of a tunnel in the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border.

Situated in the so-called demilitarized area along the border, the fake tunnel, whose photos were published by the Israeli army last August, was in fact a shallow canal, the report added, stressing that the lie aimed to delay a captive/prisoner deal.

“There was never a tunnel, but a canal covered in dirt,” Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency on Wednesday cited KAN as saying, emphasizing that the purpose of this lie “was to exaggerate the importance of the Philadelphi Corridor and delay a hostage deal.”

The Israeli broadcaster further said that former Israeli minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant supported the findings, stressing, “It was not a tunnel, but rather an attempt to prevent a ceasefire agreement.”

Gallant explained that the structure was actually just about one meter deep, but said that it had been inaccurately portrayed to the public as a deep tunnel, acknowledging, “It was promoted to the public as a deep tunnel to prevent reaching a deal with Hamas.”

The development comes as Israeli military sources estimated earlier this month that Israel’s strikes on Gaza since October 2023, which have killed more than 51,000 people, have so far destroyed only a quarter of the tunnel network and defense capabilities of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.                       

The Israeli regime was forced to agree to a ceasefire deal with Hamas last January, given the regime’s failure to achieve any of its objectives, including the “elimination” of the Palestinian resistance movement or the release of captives.

The 42-day first stage of the truce, which was marred by repeated Israeli violations, expired on March 1, but Israel is refraining from stepping into talks for the second stage of the agreement.

Hamas demands a full ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the war-ravaged Palestinian territory in return for any captive/prisoner swap deal.