The bodies of five hostages recovered from the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday were inside a tunnel located within the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone, officials have revealed. The tunnel, measuring 200 meters long and 20 meters deep, featured several rooms where the bodies were being held by Hamas.

The operation in Khan Younis was made possible by intelligence gathered in recent weeks, including information from Shin Bet interrogations of detained terrorists in Gaza. Ahead of the operation, the IDF adjusted the humanitarian zone and ordered Palestinian civilians in the area to temporarily evacuate.

The recovered bodies belonged to Ravid Katz, 51, Oren Goldin, 33, Maya Goren, 56, Sgt. Kiril Brodski, 19, and Staff Sgt. Tomer Yaakov Ahimas, 20, all of whom were killed on October 7. The IDF successfully retrieved their remains, which were being held in black body bags, and brought them to Israel for kevurah.

(YWN World Headquarters –  NYC)