The Israel Defense Forces has released footage of what they claimed is the inside of a huge Hamas tunnel where five hostages were found dead. The hostages were reportedly abducted from Israel by the terrorists on October 7.
IDF soldiers are seen standing in the dark in the video, near the entrance of the underground tunnel. It is believed that the labyrinth lies over 32 ft below schools and hospitals in the city of Jabalia, which is located north of the Gaza strip, according to the Daily Mail.
“In a centralized intelligence effort, IDF troops located and recovered the bodies of 5 hostages—abducted during the October 7 Massacre—and brought them back to Israel,” the IDF captioned the video, identifying the deceased hostages as WO Ziv Dado, SGT Ron Sherman, CPL Nik Beizer, Eden Zacharia and Elia Toledano.
“May their memory be a blessing,” they added. The footage shows the soldiers praying around the tunnel for the five people who were found dead.
According to Eylon Levy, spokesperson for Israel’s armed forces, said the passage was “Hamas’ northern underground headquarters in Gaza.” Levy added that after it was discovered, the military performed an “extensive operation to dismantle” it.
“The IDF has completed an extensive operation to dismantle Hamas’ northern underground headquarters in Gaza, revealing underground infrastructure where IDF soldiers discovered hostages’ bodies,” Levy wrote on X.
He added in the thread, “In fierce battles to secure the Hamas stronghold of Jabalia, the IDF exposed a strategic tunnel network that served as Hamas’ northern headquarters in Gaza. The first level was 10m deep under the city, the second dozens of meters deep.”
Levy added that the terrorists used the tunnel to move around, hide andstore and manufacture weapons. “It was connected to a shaft leading to the residence of the Commander of Hamas’ Northern Brigade, Ahmad Andur. The underground network also passed beneath a school and a hospital,” he said.
“After exposing the Hamas underground terror network in Jabalia and extracting hostages’ bodies, the IDF dismantled the subterranean HQ. We now continue to strike Hamas’ senior commanders and strategic capabilities in Khan Yunis and the southern Gaza Strip,” he added.
Toledano, 28, was abducted from the Nova music festival, and so was 27-year-old Zacharia. Dado had served as a logistics supervisor in the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion. Beizer, who hailed from Be’er Sheva, was taken hostage while serving in Gaza. 19-year-oldSherman, fromLehavim, was taken hostage during his service as an NCO in the Gaza CLA.