Hostage tunnel of hell
IDF troops uncovered a tunnel system in southern Gaza where about 20 Israeli hostages were held “in harsh and inhumane conditions” — including a 5-year-old who drew hopeful pictures while in captivity.
Footage uploaded Saturday shows off a vast tunnel spanning more than half a mile below the home of a Hamas commander in Khan Younis, southern Gaza’s largest city, where the war has seen the most intense fighting, according to the IDF.
Past several booby traps, explosives and other obstacles laid out by Hamas, the IDF said it found DNA evidence in the tunnels, coupled with testimony from former hostages, that proved the underground system housed as many as 20 Israelis, including Emilia Aloni, 5.
In the hostages’ caged rooms, soldiers found two of Emilia’s drawings that she left behind when she was freed along with her mother in November. The pictures, which appeared to be drawn with a pink crayon, depict a happy home with flowers, butterflies and a smiling sun popping out of the mountainside.
Emilia and her mother, Danielle, were held in one of five narrow holding cells located in the tunnel, each with a single mattress and toilet, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a news conference Saturday.
“According to the testimonies we have, about 20 hostages were held in this tunnel at different times under harsh conditions without daylight, in dense air with little oxygen, and terrible humidity that makes breathing difficult,” Hagari said.
Glimpses into one room show a mattress, blankets and trash littered on the floor, with the only form of ventilation appearing to be fans on opposite ends.
Another holding cell appeared to house a single mattress in a narrow, empty white room.
Hagari said that while some of the hostages were released, the rest were moved and remain somewhere else in Gaza, likely “under even harsher conditions.”
The IDF added that when it began inspecting the tunnel, its soldiers encountered several Hamas gunmen who were killed in the battle. The IDF invited some journalists to tour the tunnel Friday before it was destroyed.
Nearly two months after the first hostage exchange deal took place, there remains no sign of another deal to liberate the remaining captives.