Inside sprawling Hamas tunnels 65ft below ground where 6 Israeli hostages were murdered by terror thugs
THIS is the moment the IDF spokesperson descends 65ft into the Gaza tunnels where six Israeli hostages were brutally murdered by Hamas.
Footage shows Daniel Hagari entering the sprawling tunnel where the group was held captive for almost a year in horrific conditions.
Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, Carmel Gat, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi and Hersh Goldberg-Polin were kept in the narrow Gaza tunnel with little food or air, an investigation into their deaths revealed.
Hunched-over Hagari can be seen entering the cramped tunnel sealed by an iron door, as he shows blood on the ground, bullets and scattered clothes.
He says that the tunnel shaft was underneath a children’s room in a house as he shows Mickey Mouse and Snow White on the shattered wall.
He explains that Hamas used ladders to reach the six hostages about 65ft below the ground.
They were able to access the tiny shaft after breaking a hidden floor and using four ladders that were connected to the narrow tunnel.
The tunnel was so low, about 5.6ft high, that hostages were not able to stand upright and ended in a blocked iron door.
An investigation into the hostages’ death found they had trouble breathing without any air vents and had no toilet or shower.
They reportedly washed with the same water they drank from out of bottles given to them by their Hamas captors.
The IDF estimates between two to six Hamas thugs were in the tunnel with them – as Hagari shows magazines and AK-47 magazine chargers.
The IDF also found empty bottles, a hairbrush, plastic bags and women’s clothes.
Hagari says: “This is the blood of Hersh, Eden, Carmel, Ori, Almog and Alex.
“They were heroes and they were here in this tunnel for weeks or days – we will find out.
“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 – and there are still hostages.”
The tunnel had a generator and a small, faulty torch as well as a chess set, notepads and pens used by the hostages.
The group of six spent about ten months in the tunnel after they were abducted during the October 7 massacre.
They were killed 48 to 72 hours before the IDF reached the underground tunnel on August 31.
The brave group were shot multiple times from close range, an autopsy by the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute found.
According to a Channel 13 report, the brave hostages tried to fight off Hamas in their final moments.
The IDF found protein bars in the tunnel but concluded that the hostages were given very little food.
Who were the six hostages killed in Gaza?
BY Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
THE SIX hostages were aged between 23 and 40 and were kept in Gaza for almost a year after their kidnap on October 7 2023.
They were: Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino.
Ori, 25; Eden, 24; Almog, 27; and Alexander, 33, were all taken from the tragic Supernova music festival.
The sixth, Carmel, 40, was abducted from the nearby farming community of Be’eri.
Following news of the deaths, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog apologised to the families of the victims for “failing to bring them home safely”.
The family of Ms Yerushalmi said: “We share with great sorrow that our beloved Eden was murdered in Hamas captivity.”
Israel’s army said the bodies were recovered from a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, around a kilometre from where another hostage, Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, was rescued alive a week before.
US-citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, became one of the most well-known captives held by Hamas as his parents met with world leaders and pressed for his release.
They spoke out about the horrors of the ongoing war at the Democratic National Convention in August.
The native of Berkeley, California, lost part of his left arm to a grenade in the attack.
US President Joe Biden said he was “devastated and outraged” by the news of their deaths.
Eden Yerushalmi weighed just 36kg, or 80lbs, by the time she was killed.
The footage was filmed by the military last Friday as a forensic team investigated the hostage deaths and was released to the public after it had been viewed by their families and the Israeli security cabinet.
The death of the six hostages sparked outrage and an outpouring of grief in Israel with protests erupting across the country as people took it to the streets and clashed with riot police.
They are calling for a hostage-ceasefire negotiation like the one secured in November last year when 100 hostages were released to Israel.
But hopes for a deal appear to be at an all-time low with Channel 12 citing Israeli negotiators who say the chances of an agreement are “close to zero”.
Around 100 hostages remain in Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed dead.
The Hostages Families Forum, a group representing relatives of hostages, said in a statement that time is running out and called for an immediate deal to return those kidnapped.
“Every day that passes is a danger to their lives, hanging by a thread, at the mercy of terrorists capable of the worst crimes against humanity,” the group said.