The Israeli military has released images showing the inside of what they say is a massive Hamas tunnel, where five of its hostages, who were taken hostage on October 7, were found dead.
The clip shows IDF soldiers standing in the dark, huddled around the entrance to the underground labyrinth reportedly located more than 10 meters below schools and hospitals in the city of Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip.
Eylon Levy, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said the passage was “the northern underground headquarters of Hamas in Gaza,” adding that the military had carried out an “extensive operation to dismantle it” since its discovery.
He said the bodies of three soldiers – Petty Officer Ziv Dado, Sergeant Ron Sherman and Corporal Nik Beizer – as well as Eden Zacharia and Elia Toledanon – from the Nova Festival – were discovered at the site earlier this month.
In a statement published this evening on
Images released by the IDF show a dark network of tunnels reportedly more than 10 meters underground
Eylon Levy, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said the passage was “the northern underground headquarters of Hamas in Gaza.” Pictured: IDF soldiers pray near the tunnel entrance where five Israeli hostages were reportedly found
'In heavy fighting to secure the Hamas stronghold of Jabalia, the IDF has uncovered a strategic tunnel network that served as Hamas' northern headquarters in Gaza. The first level was ten meters deep under the city, the second tens of meters deep.'
'In the Hamas underground terrorist network, the IDF has recovered the bodies of five 10/7 hostages: Petty Officer Ziv Dado, Sergeant Ron Sherman, Corporal Nik Beizer, Eden Zacharia and Elia Toledano. May their memory be a blessing,” he added.
The footage released by the IDF's official social media account shows soldiers praying around the tunnel for the Israelis who discovered them.
Toledano, 28, was snatched from the Nova music festival in southern Israel on October 7. He was taken across the border with his girlfriend Mia Schem, a 21-year-old French-Israeli tattoo artist.
Schem spent 54 days in captivity, forced by Hamas to appear in a propaganda video demanding her release and saying she was well treated, until she was released in November.
Tragically, the IDF announced that they had found her friend's body. It did not say how or when Toledano died.
Elia Toldeano, 28, died in Hamas captivity in Gaza, the IDF has announced
The body of Eden Zecharya, 28, was reportedly found in the tunnel by the IDF earlier this month
Zecharya and her boyfriend Ofek Kimhi, 23, who was killed along with 230 others during the Nova festival attack
It came days after the army announced that the bodies of 27-year-old Zachariah, who was also taken from the festival, and army officer Ziv Dado, 36, had been found.
Zakaria had traveled to the Nova festival with her boyfriend Ofek Kimchi, 23, who was killed in the attack that left more than 260 dead.
Dado had served as a logistics supervisor with the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade.
Beizer, from Be'er Sheva, and Scherman, from Lehavim, were two other IDF soldiers taken hostage while serving in Gaza.
The tunnel is the latest in a series that the IDF has found and destroyed.
Earlier this week, dramatic images released by the IDF appeared to show a large explosion in the 'Elite Quarter' of Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip.
The military said it had uncovered “the terrorist infrastructure” beneath the city late Wednesday and “revealed offices belonging to Hamas' senior military and political leaders.”
“The network of tunnels was destroyed in a controlled manner,” the IDF said in a statement shared with the images on Telegram.
Beizer (R) from Be'er Sheva, and Scherman (L) from Lehavim, were both IDF soldiers who were taken hostage while serving in Gaza. Their bodies were also found in the tunnel
Warrant officer Ziv Dado, 36, (pictured), who had served as a logistics supervisor, was also found dead in the tunnel, the IDF said.
Images showed Gaza City's 'Elite District' being razed by explosions on Thursday
It came after an investigation by The Washington Post published on Thursday found there was “no immediate” evidence that rooms connecting Gaza's al-Shifa hospital with tunnels were being used by Hamas for military purposes.
Earlier today, Israel announced that 14 of its soldiers killed on Friday and Saturday were killed in fighting in central and southern Gaza.
According to Israeli army radio, four soldiers were killed when their vehicle was hit by an anti-tank missile. The others were killed in separate, sporadic fighting.
Another soldier was killed in northern Israel by fire from the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which has been engaged in low-level fighting with Israel since the outbreak of the war with Hamas, raising fears of a wider regional conflict.
Their deaths bring to 153 the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the ground offensive began.
Hamas kidnapped about 250 hostages during its attack on Israel on October 7, killing 1,139 people, according to official figures.
Since Israel began its retaliatory attack on the Gaza Strip, more than 20,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed, while another 50,000 have been injured.