"We need to do everything, everything we can, in all means, to bring them back home," military spokesman Daniel Hagari told the journalists embedded with the Israeli army.

"This is one of the goals of the war, and we will achieve it."

Rear Admiral Hagari was speaking in front of a shaft in the Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood of Rafah that connects to a tunnel where Israel says Hamas shot dead six hostages late last month.

Their deaths spurred an outpouring of grief in Israel as well as anger at the government, which critics say is not doing enough to reach a deal that would end the war in Gaza and secure the remaining hostages' release.

The war was triggered by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. The count includes hostages killed in captivity.

The militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliation has killed at least 41,118 people in Gaza, according to the territory's health ministry. The UN human rights office says most of the dead have been women or children.

Israel has denied independent access to Gaza for international media during the war, now in its 12th month.

Rafah, in the far south of Gaza, has been hit hard by the fighting, and AFPTV footage on Friday showed streets lined with the bombed-out shells of buildings, many partially collapsed with rubble spilling into the streets.

Hagari said the destruction was intended to wipe out the network of tunnels under the city.

"You have a maze of tunnels here, a maze of tunnels here in Rafah, underneath the houses. This is why the destruction," he said.

"There is even not one point left without a tunnel here in Rafah.

"In order to defeat (Hamas) we need to take control of this underground system."

The army also showed journalists the Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow strip of land that has emerged as a key sticking point in talks towards a possible ceasefire mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that retaining control of the corridor was important to stop any arms smuggling into Gaza from Egypt.

Hamas is demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal from the territory.

sha-mj/rcb/kir

ADMIRAL GROUP