IDF reveals how five hostages held captive by Hamas were found dead in the group’s terror tunnels – as Israeli military posts new video unveiling deadly underground labyrinth

The Israeli military has released footage showing the inside of a huge Hamas tunnel where five hostages taken on October 7 were found dead.

The video shows IDF soldiers standing in the dark, huddled at the entrance to an underground labyrinth said to lie more than 32 feet beneath schools and hospitals in the town of Jabaliya, north of the Gaza Strip.

Eilon Levy, an Israeli military spokesman, said the passage is Hamas’s “northern underground headquarters in the Gaza Strip,” adding that since its discovery, the military has carried out “an extensive operation to dismantle it.”

He said the bodies of three soldiers – Warrant Officer Ziv Dado, Sergeant Ron Sherman and Corporal Nick Beizer, as well as Eden Zachariah and Elia Toledanon – taken from the Nova festival were discovered at the site earlier this month.

In a statement released this evening on Channel X, Mr. Levy said: “The IDF has completed a major operation to dismantle Hamas’ northern underground headquarters in the Gaza Strip, exposing the underground infrastructure where IDF soldiers discovered the bodies of the hostages.

Footage released by the IDF shows a dark network of tunnels said to be more than 32 feet underground.

Eilon Levy, an Israeli military spokesman, said the passage was Hamas’s “northern underground headquarters in the Gaza Strip.” Pictured: IDF soldiers pray near the entrance to the tunnel where five Israeli hostages were reportedly found.

“In fierce battles for control of the Hamas stronghold of Jabaliya, the IDF discovered a network of strategic tunnels that served as Hamas’ northern headquarters in the Gaza Strip. The first level was located under the city at a depth of 10 meters, the second – tens of meters.”

“In the Hamas underground terrorist network, the IDF discovered the bodies of five 10/7 hostages: Warrant Officer Ziv Dado, Sergeant Ron Sherman, Corporal Nick Beiser, Eden Zachariah and Elia Toledano. May their memory be a blessing,” he added.

Footage posted on the IDF’s official social media account showed soldiers praying around the tunnel for the Israelis they discovered.

Toledano, 28, was kidnapped at the Nova music festival in southern Israel on October 7. He was taken across the border with his friend Mia Shem, a 21-year-old French-Israeli tattoo artist.

Shem spent 54 days in captivity before Hamas forced her to appear in a propaganda video demanding her release and saying she was treated well until her release in November.

Unfortunately, the IDF announced that they had found her friend’s body. It did not say how or when Toledano died.

Eliya Toldeano, 28, died in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, the IDF said.

The IDF reportedly discovered the body of 28-year-old Eden Zacharias in a tunnel earlier this month.

Zachariah and her 23-year-old boyfriend Ofek Kimhi, killed along with 230 others during the attack on the Nova festival.

It comes days after the military announced that the bodies of 27-year-old Zachariah, who was also taken from the festival, and 36-year-old army warrant officer Ziva Dado had been found.

Zakaria had come to the Nova festival with her 23-year-old boyfriend, Ofek Kimchi, who died in the attack that killed more than 260 people.

Dado served as the chief of logistics in the 51st battalion of the Golani Brigade.

Beizer, originally from Beersheba, and Sherman, from Lehavim, are two other IDF soldiers who were taken hostage while serving in the Gaza Strip.

The tunnel is the latest in a series that the IDF says have been found and destroyed.

Earlier this week, dramatic footage released by the IDF showed a large explosion in an “elite quarter” of Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip.

The military said it had “discovered the terrorist infrastructure” beneath the city late Wednesday, finding “bureaus belonging to Hamas’ top military and political leadership.”

“The tunnel network was destroyed in a controlled manner,” the IDF said in a statement published on Telegram along with the footage.

Beizer (right), originally from Beersheba, and Sherman (left), from Lehavim, were IDF soldiers taken hostage while serving in the Gaza Strip. Their bodies were also found in the tunnel.

Warrant Officer Ziv Dado (pictured), 36, who served as logistics chief, was also found dead in the tunnel, the IDF said.

Footage shows Gaza City’s “Elite Quarter” destroyed by explosions on Thursday.

It comes after a Washington Post investigation published Thursday said there was “no immediate” evidence that the rooms connecting Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital to the tunnels were being used for military purposes by Hamas.

Earlier today, Israel announced that 14 of its soldiers killed on Friday and Saturday were killed in fighting in the central and southern Gaza Strip.

According to Israeli army radio, four soldiers were killed when their vehicle was hit by an anti-tank missile. The rest were killed in isolated sporadic battles.

Another soldier was killed in northern Israel by gunfire from the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which has continued low-level fighting with Israel since the war with Hamas began, raising fears of a wider regional conflict.

Their deaths bring to 153 the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the ground offensive.

Hamas kidnapped about 250 hostages in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed 1,139 people, according to officials.

Since Israel launched its retaliatory strike on the Gaza Strip, more than 20,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed and another 50,000 injured.