Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said they found a holding area consisting of five narrow rooms, toilets, mattresses and even drawings by a child hostage freed in a ceasefire in November.
An underground cell once used by Hamas to hold hostages in the Gaza Strip. Photo: Israel Defense Forces
The military has released photos from the underground labyrinth and said it sent journalists to document the tunnel before it was destroyed.
Mr Hagari said the tunnel entrance was located in the home of a Hamas member in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, where Israel has been focusing its fighting against Hamas in recent weeks.
“The soldiers entered the tunnel where they encountered the terrorists, engaging in a battle that ended with the elimination of the terrorists,” Mr. Hagari said, adding that the tunnel was equipped with blast doors and explosives.
“According to the testimony we have, about 20 hostages were held in this tunnel at different times in harsh conditions, without daylight, in dense air with little oxygen and terrible humidity that made it difficult to breathe,” he said.
A picture of a cramped room and some drawings of a child hostage in solitary confinement in a tunnel in Gaza. Photo: Israel Defense Forces
In Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have taken refuge, Israel dropped leaflets with pictures of 33 hostages, their names written in Arabic, urging evacuees to provide information about the hostages if they knew them. "Do you want to go home? Call if you recognize one of them," the leaflets read.
“They are asking for help from the people because they cannot reach the hostages because of the resistance,” said Abu Ali, a resident of northern Gaza. “Stop the war… and bring your people back,” he said.
More than 100 hostages held by Hamas were freed during a brief ceasefire in November. Israel says 132 remain in Gaza, 27 of whom were killed in captivity.
In Israel, families of hostages camped outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in the coastal city of Caesarea. “He needs to make a deal and end the hostage saga,” said Eli Stivi, whose son Idan is in solitary confinement in Gaza.
Hoang Anh (according to Reuters, AJ)
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