The rescue and evacuation of five bodies of hostages from Khan Younis that was carried out by Shin Bet forces and IDF commandos on Wednesday was based on precise intelligence.

The Shin Bet managed the intelligence effort for the operation in coordination with information gleaned in interrogations of Hamas terrorists captured in Gaza and intelligence from the hostage headquarters at the IDF Intelligence Directorate.

The intelligence information directed the forces to the exact location where the bodies were held – in a tunnel in Khan Younis. The Israeli forces risked their lives to enter the tunnel and extract the bodies. B’Chasdei Hashem, they did not encounter terrorists in the tunnel and no forces were injured during the operation.

However, in the area surrounding the tunnel, fierce battles were taking place between IDF forces and terrorists. In that area alone, 30 terrorists were killed. B’Chasdei Hashem, there were no casualties among Israeli forces.

The bodies, which were found in black bags, were transferred to Israel in an APC and brought to the Institute of Forensic Medicine, where they were identified after several hours.

In the APC on the way to Israel, a reservist filmed himself with the bodies and posted it on TikTok in real-time. On Thursday, he was sentenced to ten days in military prison and was permanently dismissed from IDF service.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)