Danon leads UN ambassadors into Gaza to view a Hamas tunnel

A group of ambassadors to the United Nations entered the Gaza Strip on a tour led by Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the UN, and was shown a Hamas tunnel inside the territory, according to Israeli media. N12 correspondent Tomer Almagor reported that the visit took place in the morning and covered both the Israeli communities along the Gaza border and areas inside the Strip itself, describing it as the first time UN ambassadors had gone into Gaza.

Ynet reported that the delegation toured a Hamas tunnel in the Strip, framing the visit as the first of its kind for a UN ambassadors' delegation, and The Times of Israel also reported that the ambassadors went into Gaza to see a tunnel. According to a second N12 update, Danon told the group during the tour: "As long as Hamas rules, there will be no reconstruction."

What the ambassadors were shown

N12 reported that the itinerary was built around three themes: the aftermath of the Hamas attack of 7 October, the military infrastructure Hamas built inside Gaza, and what the broadcaster described as the continuing danger posed by the group's military buildup. The tunnel visit, reported by all three outlets, appears to have been the centrepiece of the part of the tour that took place inside the Strip.

The first leg, in the Israeli communities near the border, is known in Hebrew as the Otef Aza, or "Gaza envelope". These kibbutzim, moshavim (cooperative farming villages) and small towns sit within a few kilometres of the boundary fence and bore the brunt of the cross-border assault on 7 October. Bringing foreign officials to these communities has been a regular feature of Israeli diplomacy since the attack, intended to show visitors the scale of the damage first-hand.

Who Danny Danon is

Danon is Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations in New York, the post that speaks for Israel at the Security Council and the General Assembly. He is a former Likud politician and government minister and has been one of Israel's most vocal advocates in UN forums, where Israel's conduct in Gaza has been the subject of repeated debate and criticism. Taking ambassadors from other member states to see conditions on the ground is a way of putting Israel's case to the people who vote on resolutions concerning it.

Why the tunnels matter

Hamas, the Islamist movement that has governed Gaza, built an extensive underground network beneath the Strip over many years. Israel says the tunnels are used to move fighters and weapons, store rockets, hide commanders and hold hostages, and destroying them has been a central stated aim of its military operations in the territory. Israel has long argued that Hamas placed this infrastructure beneath and near civilian areas, a claim that sits at the heart of international arguments over the conduct of the war.

Access to Gaza for outside observers, including diplomats and international journalists, has been tightly restricted by Israel during the conflict, with visits typically arranged and escorted by the military. That is part of why a delegation of UN ambassadors physically entering the Strip was treated by the Israeli outlets as notable.

Reconstruction and the question of who governs Gaza

Danon's remark ties the tour to a live diplomatic question: who will run Gaza and on what terms its rebuilding will proceed. Israel's position, as expressed by Danon, is that rebuilding cannot go ahead while Hamas remains in control. Rebuilding the Strip will depend heavily on international funding and on UN agencies, which gives the views of UN member states' ambassadors particular weight in that debate.

A difference in framing

The reports agree that the delegation entered Gaza and saw a tunnel, but they describe the "first" slightly differently. N12 said this was the first time UN ambassadors had entered the Gaza Strip at all, while Ynet's alert said it was the first time a UN ambassadors' delegation had toured a Hamas tunnel in the Strip. The two claims are not necessarily in conflict, but they are not the same claim, and the reports do not explain the basis for either.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports names the ambassadors or the countries they represent, or says how many took part. They do not identify where in Gaza the group went or which tunnel it visited, and they do not say whether the Israel Defense Forces escorted the visit. No reaction from the participating ambassadors, from the UN secretariat or from Hamas has been reported, and the reports carry no account of what the visitors themselves concluded from the tour.