The Israeli military released a video this week showing a tunnel where Hamas militants allegedly killed six hostages amid the ongoing war.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military shared a video showing a tunnel in Gaza where the hostages were believed to be killed. The video shows a cramped, narrow underground passage with no bathroom facilities and poor ventilation.
The discovery of the hostages’ bodies last month has triggered widespread anger across Israel, intensifying calls for action. The release of the new video is likely to increase pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to negotiate a cease-fire deal with Hamas to secure the release of the remaining hostages.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that the video of the tunnel was shown to the families of the hostages that are believed to have been killed. According to Hagari, it “was very hard for them to see how their loved ones survived in those conditions.”
In a nationally televised press conference, Hagari unveiled the footage after personally inspecting the tunnel. He explained that access to the tunnel was through a shaft hidden beneath a child’s bedroom in a house in Rafah, a town in southern Gaza. The tunnel was located about 20 meters (70 feet) underground and extended for roughly 120 meters (394 feet).
Israeli army soldiers keep position during a raid in Tulkarem camp on September 10, 2024, amid a large-scale military offensive launched a week earlier in the occupied West Bank. On Tuesday, the Israeli military released a video showing a tunnel where six hostages were allegedly killed by Hamas.
JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images
In the footage, Hagari is seen hunched over, unable to stand in the tight, arched passage. He described the conditions as extremely humid with poor air quality. The video revealed bottles of urine, a bucket seemingly used as a makeshift toilet, a chessboard and ammunition for an automatic rifle believed to have been used by the captors.
“They were here in this tunnel in horrific conditions, where there’s no air to breathe, where you cannot stand,” Hagari said.
The six hostages included 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a native of Berkeley, California, whose parents spearheaded a global campaign for his release. Goldberg-Polin lost part of his left arm to a grenade during the October 7, 2023, attack that ignited the Gaza conflict. A video released by Hamas in April showing him alive sparked widespread protests in Israel. The Israeli army identified the others as Ori Danino, 25; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Almog Sarusi, 27; Alexander Lobanov, 33; and Carmel Gat, 40.
Pathology tests on the bodies of the six hostages, discovered by the military in Rafah, southern Gaza, on August 31 revealed they were killed on the night of August 29, Hagari told reporters.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
