Deep beneath Gaza: evidence of cells and hostages, says Israel

In an underground complex deep beneath Khan Younis, a Hamas stronghold in the southern Gaza Strip, the five barred-door cells that the Israeli military said held hostages kidnapped from Israel were clearly built long in advance.

The tunnel builders even paid some attention to the furnishings: the tiled walls of a small kitchenette on site, strewn with leftover food and dirty dishes, were decorated with a strange, if incongruous, motif of teapots and teacups.

The Israeli military said about 20 hostages were held at the compound at various times. It said it compiled that assessment based on testimony it said it had collected from the inmates, as well as evidence such as DNA. Some were among more than 100 hostages freed in a weeklong ceasefire in late November, while others, including elderly people, were later dispersed to other locations in Gaza, the army said.

There has been no independent confirmation of the Israeli account of the compound, but details provided to Israeli media by one of the hostages – who was released in November and, Israel says, held at the Khan Younis compound – are coming consistent with some of these claims.

About 240 prisoners were seized during the October 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli officials. More than 25,000 Gazans, most of them civilians, have been killed so far after a punishing counterattack by Israel, according to health authorities in the enclave.

A journalist from The New York Times descended into the dark labyrinth leading to the compound led by Khan Younis on Friday morning, escorted by Israeli soldiers and military officials to show the conditions under which the hostages had been held.

A vaulted chamber at the mouth of the corridor leading to the cells with barred doors was covered with green carpeting, like artificial grass, and strewn with rubbish.

Amid a tangle of floral-patterned blankets and plastic bottles lay several empty tubes labeled RPG-7VR, a type of rocket-propelled grenade, and bearing the insignia of Hamas's military wing, the Qassam Brigades. In a dim corner were four standing fans, a half-used pack of disposable diapers and a metal first aid kit from the Palestine Red Crescent Society containing a pack of latex gloves and some sealed gauze pads.

The guided visit to the compound came at a time when Israel, after more than a hundred days of fighting in Gaza, seemed increasingly torn between dueling with war targets of the dismantling of the Hamas army and its governance capabilities and of the release of the approximately 130 remaining prisoners, which will most likely require a diplomatic agreement with a ceasefire.

At least 25 of the prisoners have already been declared dead, and many Israelis fear time is running out for the rest. The military offensive has slowed, complicated by the sheer size and sophistication of Hamas' vast tunnel network that crosses the Palestinian enclave. stretching over hundreds of kilometersThis is reported by the Israeli intelligence service.

Under Khan Younis alone, the military estimates that Hamas dug at least 100 miles (160 kilometers) of tunnels over several levels, creating an inverted multi-story complex.

“We are fighting above and below ground in Khan Younis,” said Admiral Daniel Hagari, the Israeli army's chief spokesman, who led Friday's tour of the underground complex. He added: “This type of warfare is unlike any other modern battlefield anywhere in the world.”

The rising death toll in Gaza has increased international pressure on Israel to end the war. Above ground, much of Gaza is in ruins.

“Israel does not seek destruction,” Admiral Hagari said. “This war is a tragedy.” But there is no way to destroy tunnels built under civilian areas without damaging the structures above them, he said, adding: “Hamas knows that.”

The Times and other journalists accepted a military escort to visit the underground complex and secure rare wartime access to Gaza, which is largely off-limits to the outside news media.

After a half-hour journey in an armored vehicle, the journalists were taken to a ground-floor entrance with an open metal door in the side of a three-storey apartment building, which led down a staircase to a maze of tunnels that flowed in different directions. The district, in the east of Khan Younis, had been evacuated.

According to the Israeli army, the tunnel entrance, located under the home of a Hamas operative, was booby-trapped with explosives. As soldiers from the 98th Paratroopers Division advanced along the underground route, they encountered blast doors and engaged in combat with several fighters, who were killed, the military said. By the time soldiers reached the carpeted room and cells, the hostages had been moved to another location, the military said, without saying when it believed the hostages were last there.

The complex was located about half a mile into the warren of tunnels, which was lined with electrical and communications cables, and about 20 meters (or about six stories) underground. To reach it you had to walk single file through the pitch black and down long stairs carved into the earth. The air was thick and humid.

In the abandoned room, which was equipped with basic lighting fixtures, the Israeli military said soldiers found two drawings by a child. The military showed photos of the drawings — both of a house against a backdrop of hills with a sun and clouds in the sky — said to be drawn by Emilia Aloni, 5, an Israeli girl living with her mother, Danielle Aloni , was kidnapped. 44, on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir Oz. After nearly seven weeks of captivity, the Alonis were released in November in a first group of thirteen hostages, all women and children, under the temporary truce.

In interviews with Israeli television channels after the hostages' release, Ms. Aloni showed photographs that she said were drawn by her daughter in captivity and that were very similar to those the Israeli army said were found in the compound under Khan Younis.

In the television interviews, Ms. Aloni said that shortly after arriving in Gaza, she and her daughter were taken into a tunnel and then walked around for hours in what she described as an “underground city.” Eventually, she said, they came to a kind of “cave” where a dozen other prisoners were held, including injured elderly people and a teenager.

Ms Aloni recalled sleeping on mattresses next to other hostages in extremely humid conditions with little air, making it difficult to breathe.

The Alonis were held underground for several days and then moved to an above-ground apartment where they stayed with other hostages for nearly two weeks, Ms. Aloni said. They were then taken back to the tunnels for safety, she said, as Israeli fighter jets stormed Gaza.

Ms. Aloni appeared in a hostage video in late October with two other women, Rimon Kirsht, 36, and Yelena Trupanob, 50, who were also released a month later.

In a document released by Hamas on Sunday, giving its own account of the recent events, the group said it was “dealing in a positive and friendly manner with all civilians detained in Gaza.”

Many of the released hostages say they have been given little food and water, inadequate medical treatment, and held in harsh conditions.

The Israeli military said some hostages were being held in the central room and others in the narrow cells with barred doors. The cells had clinical white tiled walls, broken by a vertical purple stripe, with a toilet and sink at the back; some also had a small shower head. Soldiers escorting the journalists said strands of hair were found in the cells, as well as a bra. The military said DNA tests matched hair to hostages, but did not say who.

Ayala Metzger, the daughter-in-law of 80-year-old Yoram Metzger, who remains imprisoned in Gaza, told Israel's Channel 12 News on Sunday that his DNA was found on clothing left at the compound.

A boiler provided hot water when there was electricity.

Any hostages held on the premises would have had little awareness of the time spent underground, or of the destruction taking place on the surface.

When they emerged into the sunlight two hours after entering the tunnel, the underground silence for the reporters accompanying the Israeli army on Friday was replaced by the sounds of war. A drone buzzed in the sky. Sharp cracks and bangs sent up plumes of dark smoke.

The neighborhood is a wasteland, surrounded by piles of dirt and rubble and rutted roads.

In the house that Israel said belonged to the Hamas operative, a marble staircase indicated a level of opulence. Brass and gold curtains still hung over blown-out windows in a downstairs bedroom, and most of the exterior wall had disappeared. Not a single building in the area seemed habitable.

On Saturday, the tunnels and terrain beneath the neighborhood were blown up.

Myra Noveck contributed reporting from Jerusalem.