The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released footage Wednesday of a tunnel complex located in the southern Gaza Strip that they say housed hostages and senior Hamas leaders.
The IDF tweeted that the tunnel complex in the city of Khan Yunis ran underneath “the heart of a civilian area of Khan Yunis” and estimated that several “millions of shekels” went into its construction. (RELATED: Major Israeli Bank Blocks UN Agency’s Account Over Alleged Terror Ties: REPORT)
🔴 EXPOSED: a Hamas tunnel, over a kilometer long, built under the heart of a civilian area of Khan Yunis, with millions of shekels estimated going into its construction.
The tunnel was used by senior operatives to hold Israeli hostages and to hide high-ranking members of… pic.twitter.com/UfwJFZQ5JT
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 7, 2024
“The elite Yahalom combat engineering unit and other special forces under the 98th Division raided the ‘strategic’ underground complex,” Emanuel Fabian, The Times of Israel military correspondent, tweeted alongside a video of the tunnel. “‘The troops battled terrorists in the tunnel, breached blast doors, and neutralized explosive devices,’ the IDF says.”
The IDF reveals a major Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, previously used by senior members of the terror group and later repurposed to hold hostages.
Troops of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit and other special forces under the 98th Division raided the… pic.twitter.com/77NniYT6b3
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 7, 2024
The footage appeared to show an IDF soldier touring the tunnel complex, emphasizing the stockpiled medical supplies as well as the weapons found there. It also showcased a holding cell area presumably used to house hostages and bags that contained the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East’s (UNRWA) seal. The video concluded with the destruction of the tunnel complex.
“In the tunnel, the IDF says troops found a holding cell where the hostages were previously kept, a bathroom and a resting area for the terrorists guarding the hostages. A total of 12 hostages were held in the tunnel at different times, three of whom have already returned to Israel, the IDF says,” Fabian tweeted.
The IDF intelligence said that these hostages were used as human shields to protect the Hamas leadership from attack, The Jerusalem Post reported.
This is not the first tunnel complex that the IDF claims was used to house hostages. The Israeli army acknowledged back on Jan. 17 that they recovered the bodies of three hostages in one tunnel they discovered.
