The Israel Defense Forces released a video of the tunnel in Rafah in southern Gaza where Hamas executed six hostages late last month, with military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari taking viewers on a brief tour of the inhumane conditions the captives endured.
“This is their blood,” Hagari said in a soft voice as he pointed behind him in a chilling scene from the video. He had to kneel while in the tunnel, demonstrating how the hostages couldn’t stand. The tunnel was 31.5 inches (80 cm) wide. There were no air vents, making it difficult to breath.
“This is the blood of Hersh, Eden, Carmel, Ori, Almog and Alex,” Hagari continued, referring to Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Carmel Gat, 40, Master Sgt. Ori Danino, 25, Almog Sarusi, 25, and Alexander Lobanov, 32.
Their bodies were found by Israeli forces on Aug. 31 in the 65-foot-deep tunnel shaft underneath a children’s room in a house with Snow White and Mickey Mouse characters adorning the walls. They had gunshot wounds to the head and elsewhere.
“They were heroes, and they were here in this tunnel for weeks, or days, we will find out. But they were here in this tunnel in horrific conditions, where there is no air to breathe, where you cannot stand. And they survived. But they were murdered by terrorists,” Hagari said as the camera panned through the dark tunnel nearly 400-feet long.
The hostages were held in a short, blocked part of the end of the tunnel fortified by an iron door. It is where they were murdered. Between two and six terrorists were with the hostages, according to Hagari. He showed items being gathered for forensics including AK-47 rifle magazines, phone chargers used by the terrorists, Qurans and a hair brush.
In addition to blood stains, torn clothes, including female apparel, can be seen in the video and it is believed that the male abductees attempted to shield the female captives in their last moments.
“There are still hostages—101. Some of them are alive in the same conditions in tunnels like this, in Gaza, and we need to do everything we can, in all the means we can, to bring them back home alive,” Hagari said.
“Why murder innocent young people—women, young men? They were all at the [Supernova] music festival and Carmel was at her home in the kibbutz [Be’eri]. Why murder them in a tunnel after they survived 11 months in horrific conditions? We pray and think in our hearts and minds and we will keep on doing everything we can to bring back home all the hostages.”
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the video “only further emphasizes the importance of the war goals that our troops have been fighting to achieve in Gaza—we must dismantle Hamas, we must eliminate terrorists, and we must bring the hostages home to Israel, alive.”
After a viewing of the video on Sunday night for the Cabinet, 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.”
