The IDF’s mission to retrieve the bodies of six Israeli hostages from a Hamas tunnel system 32 feet below Gaza and surrounded by terrorists was the fastest operation of its kind since the war began, officials said.
Newly released footage shows the moment the Israeli military’s 75th battalion touched down in Khan Younis on Sunday, with soldiers eliminating Hamas gunmen at the site and locating the bodies of the hostages inside the underground labyrinth in less than 24 hours, the Times of Israel reported.
Once inside, the soldiers retrieved the bodies of Yagev Buchshtab, 35; Alexander Dancyg, 75; Avraham Munder, 79; Yoram Metzger, 80; Nadav Popplewell 51; and Haim Perry, 80.
IDF officials said the operation was carried out after Israeli soldiers cleared the area of several Hamas gunmen, who fought with the troops inside high-rise buildings in Khan Younis.
One video released by the military shows the soldiers racing through the battlefield and entering nearby buildings for cover as they engaged in shootouts through open windows and holes in the walls.
The soldiers also encountered terrorists inside the tunnel system, with some Hamas guards seen fleeing from the advancing troops, military sources told the Times.
Combat engineers from the elite Yahalom unit and members of the Shin Bet intelligence agency then found that the Hamas fighters had attempted to hide the remains of the six hostages before the soldiers could get to them.
The terrorists allegedly placed the bodies behind a false wall in the tunnel system, with the troops uncovering the plot and busting through the wall, blast doors and other blockages inside the tunnel, the IDF said.
Along with the bodies, the IDF found several Hamas weapons, including explosives devices, hidden inside the tunnel.
The IDF troops also recovered the bodies of Hamas guards located near the hostages to identify them and assure officials that no captive had been left behind in the tunnel.
The IDF revealed earlier in the summer that it believed Dancyg, Buchshtab, Perry, Metzger and Popplewell had all died while being held captive in Khan Younis, though the military has yet to state the cause of their death.
Munder — who was kidnapped with his wife, daughter, and grandson — had been presumed alive until the officials updated his status on Tuesday.
His nine-year-old grandson, Ohad, who had been released in November along with his mother and grandmother, said his grandfather’s death “shouldn’t have happened.”
“There have already been many times when there were negotiations for (a) deal… and then they say no – and in the end they don’t want it, and always regret it at the last minute,” the child told Israeli broadcaster Kan 11 on Tuesday.
Israeli officials currently estimate that 109 hostages remain in captivity in Gaza, with 36 of them believed to be dead.
It currently remains unclear what the future of the captives will be as Israel and Hamas continue to accuse each other of changing up the terms of the US-backed cease-fire deal calling for a hostage exchange.
US officials revealed on Monday that Israel had agreed to the terms of the deal, with Hamas slamming the negotiations and now claiming that President Joe Biden has given the “green light” for the war to continue.
