New images released by the Israel Defence Forces show what they said was a network of underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip with cells where Israeli hostages were believed to have been held.
Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza still hold more than 100 of the over 230 hostages they seized during their unprecedented October 7 raid into Israel in which 1,200 Israelis were killed. That raid was followed by Israel's biggest offensive into the Gaza Strip, with air strikes and ground attacks that have killed nearly 25,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
The tunnel where Israeli forces believe hostages were held was more than 2,700 feet long and 65 feet deep, according to an IDF statement sent to Newsweek. There was no immediate comment from Hamas or independent confirmation as to what the video and photos released by the Israeli forces showed.
The IDF said they had been recorded in the city of Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip.
"This tunnel was part of a branching underground network, dug by the Hamas terrorist organization, under Khan Yunis," IDF said. "At the end of the examination, the tunnel was destroyed."
The tunnel's entrance was booby-trapped and when soldiers went inside, they encountered many obstacles, explosives, sliding doors and blast doors, the IDF said. Roughly 20 hostages were believed to have been held there, according to Israeli forces.
"While the soldiers were advancing through the tunnel, they encountered a number of terrorists," the statement read. "The soldiers fought against them and eliminated them. When the soldiers reached the tunnel, the hostages were already gone, as they were moved to another location."
Israel has said it seeks to destroy Hamas and prevent any future attack from Gaza as well as to secure the return of remaining hostages. The war has displaced about 85 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million people.
Gaza Hostage Cells
Israeli forces have taken control of large parts of northern Gaza and are continuing operations in the south of the Gaza Strip. Fierce fighting is ongoing around the Khan Younis, where IDF soldiers discovered the hostage tunnel.
The tunnel's entrance was found inside the residence of a "Hamas terrorist," IDF said, adding that the underground passageways were "in the heart of a civilian area" in the city.
While examining the tunnel, Israeli forces found a "central chamber" where hostages were held as well as five barred prison cells. Soldiers allegedly uncovered evidence that hostages had been held there in addition to finding Hamas weapons and intelligence.
An aerial photograph showed the alleged tunnel route to where the hostages were held.
Families of the hostages and thousands of their supporters held rallies on Saturday in Tel Aviv and outside the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Some hostages were freed during a temporary pause in fighting late last year and the families said they believed a new deal could be possible to get the others home.
"The days of mercy and pleading are over. Now we demand: There is a deal on the table, don't miss it! It's your responsibility to save them!" The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum Headquarters said in a statement.
Among the speakers at the rallies was Chen Goldstein Almog, who spent 51 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza with her three children. Her husband and eldest daughter were killed.
"When we were released, we parted from the women hostages who were barely holding on," she said. "Who knows their condition now - medically, physically, mentally? Are they still enduring abuse?"
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Maura Zurick is the Newsweek Weekend Night Editor based in Cleveland, Ohio. Her focus is reporting on U.S. national news ... Read more
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