Israel’s military said it had discovered and destroyed a tunnel used by senior Hamas leaders and to hold hostages in southern Gaza’s main city of Khan Younis, AFP reports.

Special forces unearthed what they said was a “strategic underground tunnel” stretching more than one kilometre (just over half a mile) in a “targeted raid”.

The city — home to Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar — has been the focus of intense bombardment in recent weeks, as Israel seeks to hunt down the masterminds of the deadly October 7 attack.

Images circulated by the army showed what it said was a “hostage holding cell”, with tiled walls and steel bars from floor to ceiling.

“This tunnel held approximately 12 hostages at different times; three of them have been returned to Israel, and the rest are still being held in Gaza,” a statement read.

The army did not offer details of which hostages were held there.