Mattresses, barred doors and children’s drawings – a descent into hell
Aware of the psychological trauma these images produce, Hamas is demanding Israel’s surrender in return for the remaining hostages.
A descent into Gaza hell.
One can only imagine the horror experienced by Israeli men, women and children as they were led on October 7 to the tunnel entrance, through narrow subterranean corridors and finally to suffocating prison cells, where they would be held for months on end, without sunlight, fresh air or the ability to tell time.
In addition to the psychological torture of being held in such conditions, we know from hostages released in late November that they also suffered physical abuse. Deep below the surface, with no prying eyes, Hamas jihadists were free to do as they pleased with the hated Israeli infidels
The IDF on Saturday released video footage and graphical illustrations of just one of the many tunnel and bunker systems where Israeli captives were held in Gaza.
This one was found in southern Gaza, the entrance discovered in the family home of a local Hamas commander, though it stretched far beyond the confines of his own property.
The shaft descended to a depth of 20 meters (65 feet) and in all included 830 meters (2,700 feet – over half a mile) of tunnels.
The entrance had been boobytrapped, and the IDF reported other obstacles placed in their way. Israeli troops also encountered Hamas terrorists still in the tunnels and had to battle them in these narrow confines.
Sadly, the hostages had already been moved to another location. Gaza is larger than it looks, and very densely populated. It’s an easy place to hide someone, making the work of the Israeli army all but impossible when it comes to rescuing the captives.
That they were held in this particular tunnel and bunker system was evident by the five cells with barred doors, the mattresses on the floor and even children’s drawings.
Like most Hamas tunnels, this one was found in the heart of a civilian area (residential), and cost millions of dollars to build, money that was supposed to better the lives of the local Palestinian population.
In the end, that money brought only misery, for Israelis and Palestinians, and the tunnel system was promptly demolished when the IDF concluded its examination.
While these images are important to disseminate so that the world understands the extent of the crime perpetrated against Israel, they are also fueling fresh division in Israel, division that Hamas is deliberately sowing in its campaign of psychological terror.
Hamas knows how distraught Israelis are over these images, and over the fact that 136 of their own are still suffering in these literal hellholes. While most Israelis remain determined to defeat and destroy Hamas, a small but growing movement is demanding that Israel make a deal for the release of the remaining hostages, at any cost.
And that no doubt brings a grin to the face of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who knows that all his group need do to win this war is survive. The destruction of Gaza is meaningless to him. If at the end of all this, Hamas is still standing, and still in effective control of Gaza, it can rightly claim victory. Hamas will have:
- Slaughtered an unprecedented number of Israelis;
- Imposed unbearable psychological trauma on the Jewish state through the taking of so many hostages; and
- Vastly increased international pressure on and animosity toward the Jewish state.
And it will have withstood an onslaught by the Middle East’s mightiest military.
With that in mind, Hamas over the weekend reportedly offered a deal for the release of all remaining Israeli hostages.
The impossible price it is demanding in return:
- Immediate halt to the current Gaza war;
- Withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza;
- International guarantees that Hamas will retain governance of Gaza; and
- Release of all Hamas terrorists in Israeli prisons, including those who participated in the Oct. 7 massacre.
While the IDF denies making such an assessment officially, many in Israel, including soldiers, are now talking about the need to choose: the destruction of Hamas, or the release of the hostages. They say it won’t be possible to accomplish both.
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