The bodies of five Israelis held by Hamas in Gaza, recovered in a special IDF-Shin Bet (ISA) operation on Wednesday, were found in a humanitarian zone.
IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters on Thursday in a statement that the bodies were recovered from a tunnel beneath an area where Gaza civilians were supposed to be living safely away from a combat zone.
The murdered hostage Maya Goren and the fallen soldiers held captive, Sergeant Major (Res.) Ravid Aryeh Katz, Master Sergeant (Res.) Oren Goldin, Staff Sergeant Tomer Ahimas and Sergeant Kiril Brodski, were rescued in a joint operation of the Commando Brigade Combat Team, the Egoz Unit and the Yahalom Unit with Israel Security Agency (ISA) field analysts and coordinators.
In recent weeks, an IDF Intelligence Directorate Hostage Headquarters and Shin Bet (ISA) intelligence team carried out intensive intelligence research and interrogations of apprehended suspects to identify the location of the hostages in Khan Younis.
Recently the IDF adjusted the borders of the designated humanitarian zone, encouraging Gaza civilians to move away from the adjusted boundaries so as to escape impending combat.
Following precise intelligence information, the forces located an underground tunnel shaft, leading to a tunnel approximately 200 meters in length and 20 meters deep with several rooms where the hostages were located.
“The Hamas terror organization abducted our hostages and took them into their tunnels, which are 20 meters below the city of Khan Younis,” Hagari emphasized.
“This location was previously designated by the IDF as a Humanitarian Area, intended for Gazan civilians to move away from the battlefield and receive humanitarian aid and shelter.
“Hamas exploited this Humanitarian Area to hold our hostages captive,” he added.
“Hamas continues to hold 115 hostages including women and children, Israelis and foreign nationals in brutal conditions inside Gaza. We are determined to use all operational and intelligence means to bring home all our hostages. Any decent country in the world would do the same, and we will continue to fulfill this vital mission.”
The terror organization also launched rocket attacks against Israel from the same humanitarian zone; in fact, Hamas terrorists murdered their own people the same day, when they launched rockets aimed at Israel but instead hit a United Nations (UNRWA) school on Wednesday in Khan Younis. At least two civilians were killed and numerous others were wounded.
Hamas Terrorists Kill Gazans at UNRWA School with Failed Rocket Attack Aimed at Israel
Perhaps Hamas believes that hiding the hostages in a tunnel beneath a humanitarian zone would prevent Israeli forces from being able to search for them and rescue them.
In general, it is a given that Hamas exploits any and all civilian areas as a place from which to launch attacks against Israel. The terrorist organization believes — or at least, used to believe — that such a strategy would deter the Israeli military from eliminating its attackers and from rescuing its people still being held captive in the Hamas terror dungeons.
It’s also a strategy that Hamas continues to employ in hopes that Israeli forces will indeed kill Gaza civilians — a very effective way through media photos to raise outrage and sympathy around the world while bringing down upon the Israeli government the wrath of global leaders, who could then be depended upon to pressure Israel into ending its war for survival.
In the past, that strategy has worked very well, but not this time around. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is 74 years old. He is in his sixth term as Israel’s head of state, serving a total of more than 16 years in the post.
Whether he is reelected again or not, Netanyahu has already secured his place in the history of the state, and has said on multiple occasions that he is personally committed to ending the threat to Israel from Gaza, permanently.
