Israeli commandos uncover Hamas tunnel with holding Cells

• IDF finds small cells in a kilometer-long tunnel in Gaza.
• No hostages were found in the tunnel.
• Tunnel entrance in a Hamas member’s home.

Israeli commandos found small cells in the Gaza Strip at the end of a kilometer-long, bomb-ridden tunnel. The IDF estimated that Hamas held roughly 20 hostages there.

According to military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, they discovered bathrooms, mattresses, a holding area, five small rooms with metal bars, and even drawings made by a little hostage who was set free during a truce in November.

When it was found, there were no captives inside.

The military said it invited in media to take pictures of the tunnel before it was demolished and shared images from the underground maze.

According to Hagari, the tunnel’s entrance is located in a Hamas member’s home in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, the area where Israel has been concentrating its efforts in recent weeks to combat the Palestinian Islamist organization.

“The soldiers entered the tunnel where they encountered terrorists, engaging in a battle that ended with the elimination of the terrorists,” said Hagari.

He claimed that explosives and blast doors had been installed in the tunnel.

“According to the testimonies we have, about 20 hostages were held in this tunnel at different times under harsh conditions without daylight, in dense air with little oxygen, and terrible humidity that makes breathing difficult,” he said.

During the week-long ceasefire brokered by Qatar, some of the captives held there were set free. More than 130 of the militants who were taken prisoner during Hamas‘ raid across southern Israel on October 7 remain in Gaza.

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