Former Hamas hostages warned the Israeli military about the “colossal danger” hidden in Gaza’s 300-mile tunnel system, while calling for a new ceasefire agreement to free the remaining captives.
Several of the more than 100 hostages who were freed last month met with Israeli officials Saturday night to discuss what they went through in Gaza, the Times of Israel reports.
One former hostage, whose name was not publicly identified, told Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and fellow war cabinet minister Benny Gantz that they spent their weeks in captivity fearing they would die at any moment.
“There is no time. Every day that passes is terrifying,” said the freed Israeli. “You have no idea what kind of monsters we are dealing with.”
The former hostage claimed that Hamas told them that the Israel Defense Forces would employ the infamous “Hannibal Directive” on civilians, a revoked protocol that once supposedly called on troops to prioritize eliminating terrorists even if it meant killing to a kidnapped soldier.
Members of Israel’s war cabinet met with former hostages and the families of current captives. News 12 Former captives warned about the amount of movement in Hamas’s underground tunnels, where some corridors are large enough to allow vehicles to pass through. IDF
“We get scared when [IDF] The bombings were close,” said the former hostage. “They were so close that we begged them to take us to the tunnels. [for safety]and in a moment they did.”
The person added that Israeli soldiers should avoid the tunnels at all costs, as Hamas will not hesitate to hide behind its hostages.
“Don’t go into the tunnels,” the freed hostage warned. “They are moving there in large numbers. “It is a colossal danger for the soldiers and the hostages.”
Given the constant danger faced by those who were kidnapped on October 7, the former hostage said the Jewish state needed to do everything possible to free the more than 100 Israelis still detained in Gaza.
The IDF said on Sunday that it had found one such tunnel near the border, offering a rare glimpse of how it is constructed. IDF The freed hostages are calling on Israel to do everything possible to negotiate the release of the more than 100 people still detained in Gaza. Via REUTERS
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Gallant and Gantz assured those present at the meeting, which included relatives of the captives, that freeing the hostages was their top priority.
“First of all, the hostages must be returned. “We will have a lifetime to fight Hamas,” Gantz said.
The war cabinet minister added that capturing Hamas’ top commander in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, would be only a symbolic victory and that the real fight would be to get their ideals out of Gaza.
Hostage safety has become a hot topic, especially after the IDF mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages.
Yotam Haim, Samer Talalka and Alon Shamriz were shot dead when Israeli soldiers accidentally “attacked” them in Shejaiya.
He believed the three hostages “fled or were abandoned by the terrorists who were holding them captive,” according to the IDF.
Shamriz, 26, was buried on Sunday at a funeral in which hundreds of people gathered at a cemetery in Shafiim. It is unclear if any government officials attended the funeral.
Ido Shamriz attended the funeral of his brother, Alon Shamriz, on Sunday after Ido was mistakenly killed by the IDF along with two other hostages. REUTERS
Since the hostages’ deaths, Netanyahu appeared to suggest on Saturday that a new round of negotiations was underway with Hamas and Qatar to free those still held captive in Gaza.
On Saturday it was reported that the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency was meeting with Qatari officials to discuss a possible new hostage deal with Hamas.
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