Bodies of five Israelis held by Hamas found in tunnel

JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli army announced Sunday evening that it retrieved the bodies of five Israelis from a tunnel in the Gaza Strip.

The announcement came a day after the Al-Qassam Brigades said that it lost contact with a group responsible for five Israeli prisoners and that they might have been killed in Israeli strikes.

“Israeli forces have uncovered a network of tunnels in the Jabalia region, northern Gaza Strip, and retrieved the bodies of five Israeli hostages who were killed there,” army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a statement.

Three of these five featured in a video released by the Al-Qassam Brigades a few days ago. They had urged the Israeli government not to leave them in captivity.

Hagari said: “The military intends to expand its operations in the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, aiming to gain control over it.”

He added that this “may take a considerable amount of time.”

Describing the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip as “complex,” the Israeli army spokesman said: “It is impossible to dismantle Hamas without casualties on our side.”

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, killing at least 20,424 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 54,036 others, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The Hamas attack left 1,139 people dead.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins with half of the coastal territory’s housing stock damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely-populated enclave amid shortages of food and clean water.