Demonstrators during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since the October 7 attacks by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in front of the Israeli Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv on September 10, 2024
| Photo Credit: AFP

The Israeli military has released video footage of a Gaza tunnel where it says six hostages were recently killed by Hamas. The video shows a low, narrow passageway deep underground that had no bathroom and poor ventilation.

The discovery of the hostages’ bodies last month sparked a mass outpouring of anger in Israel and the release of the new video could add to the pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a cease-fire deal with Hamas to bring the remaining hostages home.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Tuesday (September 10, 2024), the footage of the Gaza tunnel had been shown to the hostages’ families, and that it “was very hard for them to see how their loved ones survived in those conditions.”

He said evidence indicated the six had been protecting each other when they were killed, although he didn’t elaborate on what that evidence was.

The six included Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, a native of Berkeley, California, whose parents led a high-profile global campaign seeking his release. Goldberg-Polin lost part of his left arm to a grenade in the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war in Gaza. In April, Hamas issued a video that showed him alive, sparking protests in Israel. The army identified the others as Ori Danino, 25; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Almog Sarusi, 27; Alexander Lobanov, 33; and Carmel Gat, 40.

Three of the six – including Goldberg-Polin – had reportedly been scheduled to be released in the first phase of a cease-fire proposal discussed in July, further fueling anger when they were found dead.

Tunnel beneath a children’s room

Pathology tests on the bodies of the six, who were found by the military in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Saturday, Aug. 31, showed they had been killed sometime on the night of Aug. 29, Hagari said. The military found a tunnel shaft beneath a children’s room and advanced through it carefully because of the danger of booby traps, finding the bodies about 120 meters into the tunnel, in an area behind an iron door.

The tunnel was low and narrow, with humid conditions making it hard to breathe inside, Hagari said, adding that Israeli soldiers found evidence indicating the hostages and “at least two terrorists” had been there for more than a few days. The soldiers found a sack containing bottles of urine and a bucket dug into the ground to serve as an improvised toilet, he said. Mattresses, clothes, assault rifle magazines and shells were also found, as was some food, mainly energy bars and tuna. There were blood stains on the floor, he said.

Hagari said the army had killed two militants trying to run away from a complex of tunnels on Friday near where the hostages were found and that there was “a probability” that the two had been those who killed the hostages. DNA tests were being carried out to verify this, he added.

Hamas kidnapped about 250 people during the Oct. 7 attack. More than 100 were released during a brief cease-fire in November in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Eight have been rescued by Israeli forces, while Israeli troops mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages who had escaped captivity in December. Israeli authorities say 101 hostages remain in captivity, including 35 who are believed to be dead.

Hamas has offered to release the hostages in return for an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants. But negotiations on a cease-fire have failed to produce any deal.

Palestinian Territories:

Hamas’s armed wing said on Monday that hostages would return to Israel “inside coffins” if military pressure continued, warning that “new instructions” had been given to the militants guarding the captives if Israeli troops approached.

“(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s insistence on liberating the prisoners through military pressure instead of concluding a deal will mean that they will return to their families inside coffins,” Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement.

“New instructions were issued to the mujahideen assigned to guard the prisoners regarding dealing with them if the occupation army approached their place of detention,” he said, after Netanyahu earlier said the six hostages whose bodies were recovered at the weekend had been “executed”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Members of Kibbutz Nir Oz and Israeli officials hold a conference calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government to secure a deal to return the hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, southern Israel, on August 18, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Israel’s Prime Minister on Sunday (August 18, 2024) accused Hamas of being an obstacle in negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire deal and called for more pressure on the Palestinian militants ahead of a new round of talks later this week.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments came with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken set to arrive in Israel later on Sunday (August 18, 2024) to push for a deal that could help avert a wider conflagration.

“Hamas, up to this moment, remains obstinate. It did not even send a representative to the talks in Doha. Therefore, the pressure should be directed at Hamas and (Yahya) Sinwar, not at the Israeli government,” Mr. Netanyahu said at a Cabinet meeting, referring to the newly appointed Hamas chief.

Western ally Jordan, hostage supporters protesting in Israel, and Hamas itself have called for pressure on Mr. Netanyahu in order that an agreement be reached.

On Thursday (August 15, 2024), Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP the movement informed mediators it would participate in the Doha talks, which took place Thursday (August 15, 2024) and Friday (August 16, 2024), if they were “to set a timetable for the implementation” of what Hamas had already agreed to.

Hamas also announced its opposition to what it called “new conditions” from Israel.

Mr. Netanyahu, however, told Cabinet that, “We are conducting negotiations and not a scenario in which we just give and give. There are things we can be flexible on and there are things that we cannot be flexible on, which we will insist on.”

He said “enormous efforts” are being made to bring home the hostages.

“We firmly stand by the principles we have set, which are essential for Israel’s security,” Mr. Netanyahu said, calling for “strong military pressure and strong diplomatic pressure” on Hamas to reach a deal.

Making his ninth trip to the Middle East since the Gaza war began with Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, Mr. Blinken is due to meet Mr. Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders on Monday (August 19, 2024) before truce talks resume in Cairo later in the week.

Moscow’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov hopes to meet representatives of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Qatar next week for talks to free Israeli hostages, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reported on October 14.

Moscow has so far carefully denounced violence from both sides in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, while renewing an offer to be a potential mediator.

Follow live updates from the Israel-Hamas war on October 14

Mr. Bogdanov told RIA Novosti he “did not exclude” meeting Hamas representatives on the trip, adding: “If they are willing, we always are in favour of contact. Especially in this situation (the meeting) would be useful for solving practical issues, including the freeing of hostages.”

On October 7, hundreds of Hamas gunmen broke through the militarised border around the Gaza Strip into Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking around 150 Israeli, foreign and dual-national hostages.

Moscow manages to retain close relations with both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities.

Also Read | Saudi pauses talks on normalisation with Israel: Report

The announcement of Mr. Bogdanov’s efforts came a day after President Vladimir Putin said Russia could help find a way to end the crisis.

“Russia can (help), by virtue of the fact that we have had good relations with Israel over the last 15 years,” Mr. Putin said on a visit to Kyrgyzstan on October 13.

Also Read: At U.N., Palestinians call for halt to Israeli offensive, world powers mull options

He also said Israel risked waging an “unacceptable” siege in Gaza.

The Russian leader has said that the creation of a Palestinian state is the only viable way to solve the conflict.

Moscow — whose troops have fought in Ukraine for almost 20 months — has blamed the West for the conflict in Israel.

Palestinian group Hamas launched a large-scale surprise attack on Israel from Gaza leaving hundreds dead. A large number of Israeli soldiers and civilians, especially women, are also being held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Some are alive and some are presumed dead, military spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus said, BBC reported. 

The official account of Israel War Room, a nonprofit organisation, took to X to share pictures of women and men kidnapped by Hamas amid war. 

”Hamas seems to have kidnapped mostly women. It has already been confirmed that Hamas fighters are using rape as a weapon of war. There must be no mercy for these barbarians,” they wrote on X, along with images of missing Israelis. 

Here’s the tweet:

Hamas seems to have kidnapped mostly women.

It has already been confirmed that Hamas fighters are using rape as a weapon of war.

There must be no mercy for these barbarians. https://t.co/ICTubV3k0B

— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) October 7, 2023

Several Israelis have also been sharing photos of friends and family who they say have apparently been kidnapped by Hamas fighters. Relatives of those missing have been asked to hand their belongings to police stations so that DNA samples can be taken.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas was responsible for the hostages’  well-being and Israel would “settle the score with anyone who harms them”.

The number of Israeli nationals held captive by Hamas is “unprecedented”, IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN. “These are extremely disturbing scenes for any Israeli to see. I don’t even want to imagine what the fate of this Israeli person will be at the hands of these blood-thirsty animals,” he added. 

Meanwhile, a Hamas spokesman claimed that the number of Israeli hostages taken is ”many times greater than what Netanyahu thinks.”

Earlier, shocking footage of a 25-year-old woman being kidnapped from a peace festival by Hamas fighters surfaced on the internet. The distressing video showed Noa Argamani pleading for her life while sitting on the back of a fighter’s motorcycle. In the video, Ms Argamani was forcibly being driven away by gunmen as she screamed, ”Don’t kill me! No, no, no.”  Her boyfriend Avi Nathan was also seen being manhandled by the Hamas group, reported the New York Post. 

Israeli security forces are now carrying out operations to rescue the hostages. Israel’s health ministry has not confirmed how many people have died, but Israeli media put the number of people killed at 300. More than 1,860 others have been injured.