Hostages were kept in narrow tunnel without air, toilet, showers

The hostages were likely murdered just hours before they were discovered by the IDF and some of them fought back against their captors.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

An IDF investigation into the killing of six captives whose remains were recovered from Gaza last week has shed light on the conditions the six hostages faced before their captors murdered them.

New evidence shows that the hostages were likely murdered hours before the IDF found them in the tunnel, and there is also some indication that they fought back against their captors.

The tunnel was so narrow they could barely stand up, and no more than two could lie down at a time.

There was also very little air, and the ventilation was so poor that many of the hostages likely had trouble breathing.

The tunnel had no toilets or showers, and the hostages had to use bottles of water to bathe themselves, which were also used for drinking.

The hostages were given very little to eat, and it was discovered that Eden Yerushalmi weighed only 36 kg or 79 pounds when she was killed.

The army discovered a generator, a flashlight, a chessboard, pens and pencils, and notebooks, which will be given to the hostage families.

In late August, the IDF discovered the bodies of six hostages in a tunnel in Rafah. All six had been shot in the head execution-style by Hamas.

The victims were later identified as Goldberg-Polin, 23; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Ori Danino, 25; Almog Sarusi, 25; Alexander Lobanov, 32; and Carmel Gat, 40.

The IDF estimates that the six hostages were initially held in the northern Gaza Strip and were only brought to Rafah later in the war.

The remains of the six captives were found without the benefit of intelligence information when a unit of IDF soldiers were traversing a tunnel under Rafah.

The tunnel in question is located roughly one kilometer (3,280 feet) from where Farhan al-Qadi, an Israeli Bedouin man held hostage in Gaza since October 7th, was rescued by Israeli forces.

Following the retrieval of the six bodies of hostages, protests have erupted, with demonstrators demanding that the government agree to a ceasefire deal.

However, the prospects for a deal seem remote, given the disagreement between Hamas and Israel over the Philadelphi corridor.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the IDF must maintain a presence in the corridor to prevent arms smuggling, which led to the October 7th massacre.

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