Five hostages recovered dead from tunnel in Gaza Strip

Israel’s military reports that the bodies of five kidnapped hostages have been found in tunnels in the Gaza Strip. The terrorist organization Hamas accuses Israel of killing 70 civilians in an attack on a refugee camp.

The Israeli military says it has recovered the bodies of five hostages from a network of tunnels in the northern Gaza Strip. The army said that the remains of three soldiers and two civilians who were abducted from Israel on October 7 were found in a very extensive and deep tunnel system in the area of ​​the Jebalia refugee district. The tunnels, which were laid out on two levels, served as a command center for the terrorist organization Hamas.

In its statement, the Israeli army left open how the hostages died. Military spokesman Daniel Hagari pointed out that the autopsies were still pending. The Islamist militant group Hamas recently said that some hostages had been killed in Israeli strikes on targets in the Gaza Strip. However, there were also threats to execute hostages.

The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported that two of the bodies were found two weeks ago and the other three a few days later. In connection with the announcement of the body’s discovery, the army released photos of a white-tiled bathroom with a simple shower, toilet and sink, as well as a work area with a corner table and bench. Both rooms are connected by dark corridors. The previous week, Hamas had released a video that showed three of the hostages alive in a narrow, white-tiled, windowless bedroom. The rooms shown in the two videos did not match.

According to the report, Hamas is now operating with guerrilla cells

According to Israel, a number of Hamas terrorists are hiding in tunnels like the one shown in the recordings and are also holding other hostages there. They also use the underground paths to appear out of nowhere and attack.

Hamas is now attacking with cells consisting of only two to five fighters before they dive back into the tunnels, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a senior Israeli officer. The terrorists also operated from civilian refuges and used women and children to collect information and transport weapons, it was said. Hamas also stores weapons in hundreds of empty houses. This allows their fighters to move freely, pose as civilians and grab weapons at the last moment before an attack.

Hamas speaks of 70 dead Refugee camp

Meanwhile, the Israeli army continued its attacks on targets in the Gaza Strip over Christmas. The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the militant Islamist Hamas, said twelve people were killed in an attack on the village of Al-Sawaida in the center of the Palestinian territory on Monday night. At least 18 people were killed in an attack on the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. The information cannot be independently verified.

The Ministry of Health had already announced in the evening that at least 70 people had been killed in an Israeli air strike on the Al-Maghasi refugee camp in the center of the Gaza Strip. The attack destroyed several houses in the camp in which numerous families lived. Hamas spoke of a “terrible massacre” and “further war crimes” by Israel. The Israeli army said it was reviewing the report on the Maghasi incident and was trying to minimize damage to civilians. The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service released images of injured people being taken to hospitals. Israel has repeatedly stated that it only targets Hamas and not civilians.

Israel: 7,860 terrorists killed so far

The Israeli military estimates that it has killed around 7,860 terrorists since the start of the war. An army spokesman confirmed media reports yesterday. If the estimate is correct, the number of terrorists killed would correspond to almost 40 percent of the number of more than 20,400 deaths previously stated by the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip. The information provided by both sides cannot be independently verified.

The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, carried out by terrorists from the Islamist Hamas and other groups on October 7th in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip. More than 1,200 people were killed. More than 240 people were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip. Israel then began massive air strikes and, since the end of October, a ground offensive in the sealed-off coastal area. According to current military figures, 156 Israeli soldiers have died since the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip began.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that his country would continue the war against Hamas until all objectives were achieved and Hamas was “eliminated.” At the same time, he admitted that the war exacted a “very high price.”