Male hostages fought with captors to defend females before being executed

Forensic evidence shows the male hostages fought their captors to defend the female hostages before they were murdered.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Several hostages who were murdered by Hamas 10 days ago fought against their captors before they were killed, according to the IDF.

The bodies of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Ori Danino, 25; Almog Sarusi, 25; Alexander Lobanov, 32; and Carmel Gat, 40, were discovered by the IDF in a Rafah tunnel after they had been shot execution-style just hours before the soldiers arrived.

Channel 13 reported forensic evidence revealed that “Several of the six are assessed to have defended themselves and struggled with those who shot them.”

According to the evidence, the four male hostages, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Almog Sarusi, and Alexander Lobanov, fought their captors to defend the female hostages Carmel Gat and Eden Yerushalmi.

The IDF revealed the extreme conditions the hostages faced, including tunnels that were so narrow more than two people couldn’t lie down at the same 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.

A Hamas official said that the terror group will continue to kill hostages if the IDF approaches in an attempt to rescue them.

In a Telegram post, the spokesperson for Hamas’ armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Obaida, wrote, “Netanyahu and the occupation army alone bear full responsibility for the deaths of the prisoners. They deliberately obstructed any prisoner exchange deal for their own narrow interests and intentionally killed dozens of prisoners through direct airstrikes.”

He continued, “Netanyahu’s insistence on liberating the prisoners through military pressure instead of concluding a deal will mean that they will return to their families inside coffins, and their families will have to choose whether they are dead or alive.”

Referring to the IDF rescue of four hostages in Nuseirat in June, he added, “Let it be clear to everyone that, following the incident in Nuseirat, new instructions have been issued to the Mujahideen tasked with guarding the prisoners.

He said, “These instructions outline how to handle the situation if the occupation army approaches the location where the prisoners are being held.”