The IDF screened footage from the tunnel where six hostages were found executed by Hamas for security cabinet ministers at its meeting on Sunday. The footage, recorded by IDF forces and shown to ministers at the direction of the defense minister, revealed the narrow tunnel where the hostages were held.
The tunnel, in which it was impossible to stand, had high humidity and no ventilation, and the video depicted harrowing scenes showing the conditions in which the murdered hostages were kept. The military plans to show the video to the families of the victims before deciding, based on their wishes, whether to release it to the public.
Cabinet members were reportedly shocked and horrified by the footage, reacting with phrases like "monsters," "animals," and "this just shows who we're dealing with." Sources present at the meeting described it as "extremely tough to watch." The atmosphere in the room was tense, and the video underscored both the brutality of Hamas and the dire situation of the remaining hostages.
During the meeting, ministers were informed that the hostages – Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Almog Sarusi, Carmel Gat, and Alex Lobanov – were executed on Thursday night. Their deaths were unrelated to the cabinet's decision to remain in the Philadelphi Corridor, made between Thursday and Friday. According to assessments, the terrorists likely killed them out of fear that the IDF was closing in.
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The location of the tunnel where the hostages were found
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
At a Knesset committee meeting on Monday, Esther Buchshtab , whose son Yagev was murdered in captivity by Hamas and whose body was recovered from Khan Younis three weeks ago, also confirmed her son had been executed. "My son was kidnapped alive. He was supposed to return alive, but he came back dead – murdered," she said.
A soldier from the Yahalom Unit, SSGT A, records where the entrance to the tunnel where the hostages were held was found
(IDF)
"We received the autopsy report, and it describes his execution. He was executed. The army got close to the tunnel, and he was executed. That’s what happens under military pressure. It doesn't bring hostages back alive, it kills them. I don't think the army is to blame; it's government policy. We've seen this happen again and again in operation after operation. Yagev's case is from February. It took time to reach them, but they were executed."
Mossad chief Dedi Barnea briefed the cabinet on the ongoing negotiations for a deal. The briefing indicated that the negotiating team is still pursuing talks and is awaiting an American mediation proposal, though there’s no certainty it will be presented.