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- August 20, 2024
- 8:46 pm
- Middle East
The IDF has revealed new details of the operation to recover the bodies of six Israeli hostages that took place on Tuesday night in Khan Yunis. The operation involved the engineering corps and the 75th Armored Battalion under the command of the 98th Division.
The operation was difficult because the military had only fragmentary intelligence and no precise location of the bodies. There was also no captured terrorist who could point to the entrance to the tunnel. So the military split into teams and spent several hours combing the area and the ruins of buildings in search of entrances.
In the tunnel, at a depth of about 10 meters, the soldiers found a loose wall, behind which there was a hidden passage. This passage led to the complex where the bodies of the Israelis were hidden. In addition to them, the bodies of terrorists with weapons were found in the tunnel. It is assumed that they were guarding the hostages, but died due to a long stay underground in difficult conditions. Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also found in the tunnel.
Preliminary information indicates that at least five of the six hostages died of asphyxiation while in the tunnel, likely due to an IDF attack on a nearby Hamas facility that caused a fire. Carbon dioxide from the fire filled the tunnel where the hostages and their guards were located. Their bodies showed no external injuries.
The Prime Minister and President of Israel expressed their condolences to the families of the six hostages whose bodies were found in the Gaza Strip. They also thanked the IDF and Shin Bet for the successful operation. The media noted that the division's activity took place in the southern Gaza Strip, in the Tel al-Sultan area and near Rafah.
The difficulty of conducting operations in this area is due to its dense development. The Israeli defense completed the operation to retrieve the bodies of the hostages taken in Khan Yunis. Yahalom, together with the Shin Bet, conducted a search of the terrorists' tunnels and hideouts in order to find the victims and return them to their loved ones.
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