Inside the Hamas tunnel holding hostages in Gaza

The Israeli military announced the discovery of a Hamas tunnel used to hold hostages in the city of Khan Younis, which contained cells, tiled walls, bathrooms and kitchens.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced today that it had discovered and destroyed a "strategic tunnel" measuring more than 1 km long during a raid in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. Video released by the IDF shows a "hostage cell", with tiled walls and steel bars from floor to ceiling.

"The tunnel housed around 12 hostages at different times. Three of them were returned to Israel and the rest are still being held in Gaza," the IDF statement said, without providing information about the hostages who were held there.

Inside the Hamas tunnel holding hostages in Gaza

Inside a Hamas tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis in video released by the Israeli military on February 7. Video: IDF

The tunnel was built "under the center of a civilian area" with bathrooms, kitchens and resting areas for hostage monitors, and was part of a "complex and interconnected maze of underground tunnels," according to the IDF.

"It was also used as a hideout for senior Hamas members and is connected to a recently discovered tunnel where other hostages were held. The army recovered numerous items and weapons from this tunnel," the IDF said.

Israel's offensive against the Gaza Strip has so far killed more than 27,700 people and displaced more than a million in the southernmost part of the strip. 227 Israeli soldiers were killed in the operation. The Israeli military claims that senior Hamas officials have retreated into a network of tunnels, with entrances built in and around civilian infrastructure.

Khan Younis, the hometown of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, has been the focus of intense bombing in recent weeks, as Israel hunts for Hamas members believed to have masterminded the raid on Israel.

Huyen Le (According to AFP , Times of Israel )

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