The Israeli army on Friday took journalists into tunnels discovered by soldiers in southern Gaza, including the entrance to the underground chamber where the bodies of six Israeli hostages killed by Hamas on September 1 were found.
The army did not allow journalists into the tunnel in the Tel al-Sultan area of Rafah for security reasons, but released footage revealing a narrow, airless passage about 20 meters underground, where hostages were reportedly held for weeks.
“There is a complete labyrinth of tunnels here in Tel al-Sultan,” Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters, standing near the entrance to the tunnel, located in what appears to be a child’s bedroom in a destroyed house.
“We must do everything possible, in every way, to bring them home,” he said, referring to the 101 hostages Israel says are still being held by Hamas militants.
The Israeli military said six hostages were killed on the night of August 29 and that their bodies were recovered by soldiers about two days later.
The Tel al-Sultan tunnel is part of what the military said was a vast network discovered by Israeli forces operating around Rafah, near the Egyptian border. According to the army, soldiers have discovered about 8 miles of underground tunnels in recent months.
In addition to the entrance to the tunnel where the hostages were killed, the military also showed reporters a tunnel large enough to transport a truck into Egypt, but which was blocked on the Egyptian side of the border.
In stark contrast to the rubble of Gaza’s buildings, destroyed by months of fighting between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants, the road along the so-called Philadelphia Corridor in the border area with Egypt had brand-new asphalt.
Aside from rare visits with an Israeli army escort, international media have not been allowed into Gaza since Israel invaded the enclave following a Hamas attack on October 7 that killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli estimates.
Much of Gaza was destroyed during the Israeli campaign, and most of the population of 2.3 million was displaced from their homes. More than 41,000 people were killed, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
As a condition for bringing journalists on Friday’s visit, the military demanded that the footage be sent for review by military censors, but did not ban the publication of any material.
Source: Terra
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