Israel: Amid its ongoing offensive to dismantle the Hamas terror network and ensure the release of all hostages in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces has discovered a tunnel with cramped cells where, the military said, about 20 hostages were held captive. However, no hostages were found when the tunnel was discovered.
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Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said inside the tunnel, the Israeli forces found a holding area, five narrow rooms behind metal bars, toilets, mattresses, and even drawings by a child hostage who was freed during a November truce. He claimed that the entrance of the tunnel was in the house of a Hamas member in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. He said the tunnel was rigged with blast doors and explosives.
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“The soldiers entered the tunnel where they encountered terrorists, engaging in a battle that ended with the elimination of the terrorists,” said Hagari as quoted by news agency Reuters.
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“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,” he said.
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As per Israeli claims, more than 100 hostages are still held under Hamas captivity in Gaza. All these hostages were captured during the October 7 attack by Hamas on southern Israel, last year. In the attack, Hamas killed hundreds of Israelis, raped women and beheaded babies following which Israel declared war.
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Meanwhile, the Israel-Hamas war has been on for more than 100 days now. Thousands of Hamas militants have been killed. Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has resulted in the death of thousands of Palestinian civilians and the displacement of hundreds of thousands, resulting in a humanitarian crisis. The international community’s efforts to convince Israel to implement a cease-fire, have been unsuccessful. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the ongoing war would take months until his country’s complete victory over Hamas.
