Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: IDF
The entrance to the tunnel in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip, were the six murdered hostages were found on Aug. 31, 2024
(JNS) — Israeli Cabinet ministers on Sunday night were presented with video footage of the tunnel in Rafah where the six murdered hostages were held, footage they described as “stomach-churning” and “horrific.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi showed the visual documentation from southern Gaza at the request of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Ministers did not see the hostage’s corpses but rather the inhumane conditions in which their Hamas captors forced them to live.
The bodies of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Almog Sarusi, 25, Alexander Lobanov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Master Sgt. Ori Danino, 25, were found in a 65-foot-deep tunnel on Aug. 31. The bodies had gunshot wounds to the head and elsewhere.
Lawmakers were shocked to see the video of the tunnel, which was 31.5 inches (80 cm) wide. Blood stains and torn clothes can be seen in the video and it is believed that the male abductees attempted to shield the female captives.
Ministers were also informed during the session that the murders occurred on Thursday evening, placing their executions at the same time that a Cabinet meeting was taking place regarding the Philadelphi Corridor that runs along Gaza’s border with Egypt. The meeting ended with a vote in favor of maintaining security control over the buffer zone. Therefore, it is impossible that the guards shot the hostages based on the Philadelphi Corridor decision, as some have argued, but instead likely because they felt that the IDF was closing in on them.
“It was perfectly quiet in the room. It was one of the hardest videos to watch. It turns your stomach. The tunnel is narrow and low, you can either lie down, or sit or walk on your knees. You can’t fit more than a mattress and a half across. You can assume that they slept either in turns or along the length of the tunnel,” ministers said.
“You see in the documentation a lot of drinking water and protein bars, some clothes, a chess board or backgammon and notebooks. Seeing the video and realizing that they survived 11 months only sharpens the understanding of what they are going through. No one remains indifferent,” they added, calling Hamas terrorists “monsters” and “human animals.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the ministers: “When you watch this video, it sharpens your understanding of the evil we are facing. They are Satan incarnate.”
Channel 12 on Sunday published other findings from the IDF’s initial investigation into the murders, including evidence that some of the abductees defended themselves and fought their captors.
The investigation found that the hostages had difficult standing in the tunnel, and with no air vents, difficulty breathing. There were no toilets or showers. They showered with water bottles, from which they also drank, and suffered from starvation and drastic weight loss, with Yerushalmi only weighing 36 kilos (79 pounds). The few protein bars found were not enough to prevent hunger.
Notebooks were collected by security forces and will be delivered to the families.
The IDF has opened an investigation after the names of six slain hostages were leaked before their families could be notified through official channels.
News of the bodies’ recovery spread online hours before they were returned to Israel, resulting in the families learning of their loved ones’ deaths through social media rather than from the army.
To put a stop to the rumors, the army felt obliged to publish a special announcement that the bodies had been recovered, although without confirming the identities of the abductees.
During Sunday night’s presentation to the Cabinet, the team led by Mossad chief David Barnea that is negotiating for the release of the 101 remaining hostages gave an overview of the talks, saying that “Israel does not know if and when the American compromise proposal will be submitted. [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar has hardened positions and he is expanded the numbers of murderers [Palestinians serving life sentences in Israeli jails Hamas wants released] in a way that goes beyond the range that allows for consensus.”
