IDF releases footage of Hamas tunnel where hostages were killed, confirms Rafah brigades destroyed
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The IDF has released video footage of the tunnel where six young Israeli hostages were held and executed by Hamas terrorists, showing large bloodstains where they were killed. Bottles of urine and women’s clothes, as well as AK-47 magazines and Quran books, can also be seen in the video.
The IDF had previously confirmed that the hostages were murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before Israeli soldiers located their bodies in a tunnel in Rafah, with autopsies revealing that they were shot multiple times at close range, 48-72 hours prior.
Carmel Gat, 40, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Russian-Israeli Alexander Lobanov, 33, Almog Sarusi, 27, and Ori Danino, 25, were kidnapped alive by Hamas on 7th October and held hostage in Gaza for over ten months before being killed. Gat was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri, while the other five hostages were abducted from the Nova music festival.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that the tunnel shaft was found in a child’s bedroom in a house in Rafah, with “Snow White and Mickey Mouse on the wall”.
The footage shows Hagari inside the tunnel, located around 20 metres underground and stretching 120 metres.
He said: “They were here in this tunnel in horrific conditions, where there is no air to breathe, where you cannot stand. They survived, but they were murdered by terrorists”.
Hagari added: “There are still hostages, 101, some of them are alive in the same conditions in tunnels like this in Gaza. We need to do everything we can… to bring them back home alive”.
The IDF confirmed this week that Hamas’ Rafah Brigade has been defeated, with at least 2,308 terrorists killed and over 13 kilometres of terror tunnels destroyed. Combat engineering forces located 203 interconnected tunnels stretching from the border with Egypt to the outskirts of Rafah. Most have been destroyed, with engineers currently completing their investigations into some of the remaining tunnels. 9 tunnels were found crossing into Egypt from Gaza, but none were active at the time of their discovery by IDF forces.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed and seven injured when a helicopter crashed in a failed rescue operation in Rafah this week.
The IDF announced a probe into the incident but said that the helicopter had not come under attack. They reported that hundreds of similar operations had taken place, with elite search and rescue soldiers assisting some 1,700 soldiers without incident until now.
Conservative parliamentarians attend cross-party briefing with Trevor Asserson
Conservative MPs and Lords were among attendees at a cross-party briefing with Trevor Asserson this week to discuss his report into the BBC’s coverage on Israel.
The report underlined a “deeply worrying pattern of bias” against Israel, analysing four months of the broadcaster’s coverage across its media platforms and found that, for example, Israel was associated with war crimes four times more than Hamas – 127 versus 30 – with genocide 14 times more – 283 versus 19 – and with breaching international law six times more – 167 versus 27.
Around 40 lawyers and data scientists contributed to the report, which analysed nearly nine million words.
Over a dozen parliamentarians and researchers attended the briefing, organised by the Britain-Israel Peers Group, including CFI Honorary President Lord Polak CBE, Louie French MP, Jack Rankin MP, Baroness Altmann CBE, Baroness Foster of Oxton DBE, and Baroness Noakes DBE.
3 UNRWA staff members named as Hamas operatives killed in IDF strike
The IDF has named nine Hamas operatives killed in a strike in an UNRWA-run school in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, which had been used by the terror group to plan and carry out troops against Israelis. Three UNRWA staff members were named among the Hamas terrorists killed.
The Times of Israel reported that the terrorists were named as Muhammad Adnan Abu Zaid, a member of Hamas’s military wing who launched mortars at troops, and an UNRWA staffer; Yasser Ibrahim Abu Sharar, a member of Hamas’s military wing and emergency committee in Nuseirat, as well as an UNRWA staffer; and Iyad Matar, a member of Hamas’s military wing and an UNRWA staffer; Ayser Qardaya, a member of Hamas’s internal security force; Bassem Majed Shahin, the commander of a Hamas military wing cell, who participated in the 7th October attacks; Omar al-Judaili, a member of Hamas’s military wing and internal security force; Akram Saber al-Ghalidi, a member of Hamas’s military wing and internal security force; Muhammad Issa Abu al-Amir, a member of Hamas’s military wing who participated in the 7th October attacks; and Sharif Salam, a member of Hamas’s military wing.
Hamas said that 18 people were killed in the strike, including civilians, though these figures cannot be verified.
Responding to criticism from the UN over the strike, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said: “It is unconscionable that the UN continues to condemn Israel in its just war against terrorists, while Hamas continues to use women and children as human shields”.
Failing to acknowledge their membership of the Hamas terror group, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on X: “Reports of six UNRWA staff members being killed in an Israeli strike are appalling. My thoughts are with their families and all those who continue to carry out lifesaving work. Aid workers must be able to do their jobs safely”.
Report: IDF commandos raided IRGC weapons depot in Syria, seized documents and equipment
Israeli media outlets have reported that Israeli forces raided an Iranian facility in Syria this week, with air support from combat helicopters and drones.
IDF troops reportedly entered an underground missile factory in the Maysaf area, widely understood as a base for Iranian forces and Iran-backed militias, using explosives to blow up the site from the inside after seizing equipment and documents.
It is believed that Israel suspected the site was being used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to develop advanced weaponry for the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group.
Syrian state media reported that several military sites have been targeted recently by Israel in the area, with Reuters stating that the Scientific Studies and Research Center, known as CERS or SSRC, was among sites hit. The site is reportedly used by Iranian forces to manufacture precision surface-to-surface missiles. The US maintains that sarin gas has been developed at the centre, though Syrian authorities deny the claim.
Israel has not commented on the reports, rarely acknowledging operations in Syria.
IDF to shift focus to northern front as Hezbollah attacks continue
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant confirmed this week that the IDF was shifting its “centre of gravity” toward its northern front with Hezbollah in preparation for a ground offensive.
Hezbollah fired 20 rockets towards northern Israel last night, with over 100 launched this week at Israeli communities as well as drone attacks.
IDF drones targeted Hezbollah rocket launchers in at-Tiri and Mansouri, southern Lebanon. A Hezbollah building in Rachaf was also struck by IDF forces.
A Hezbollah manufacturing plant in the Lebanese city of Jouaiyya was targeted by the IDF, along with several Hezbollah-linked buildings in Nabatieh, Mansouri, Kafr Kila and a cell in Lebanon’s Houla, which was targeted in a separate airstrike.
Around 80,000 Israelis have been displaced from their homes across Israel’s north amid daily attacks by Hezbollah on northern Israel.
Returning Israel’s internally-displaced people has been one of the country’s central war goals since Hezbollah began launching rockets at Israel on 8th October, one day after Hamas’s massacres and before the IDF had started its counter-offensive. Nearly 8,000 rockets have been launched by Hezbollah towards Israel since 8th October.
