Israeli army finds five dead hostages

For Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, an end to the war in Gaza is not on the agenda until Hamas has been destroyed and all hostages freed. For five of them, all help comes too late. The army finds their bodies in the tunnels under Jabalia.

The Israeli army says it has recovered the bodies of a total of five hostages from a network of tunnels in the northern Gaza Strip. The mortal remains of the men and women abducted from Israel on October 7 were found in a very extensive and deep tunnel system in the area of the refugee quarter of Jabalia, the military announced on Sunday. According to the "Jerusalem Post" newspaper, two of the bodies had already been found two weeks ago and three more a few days later.

The tunnel network had served as a command center for the Islamist Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the army statement. According to spokesman Daniel Hagari, the attacks on Israel on October 7 were also coordinated from there. The information provided by the military could not initially be independently verified. The network of tunnels consisted of two levels - one at a depth of around ten meters and another several dozen meters underground. Weapons, equipment for manufacturing weapons and living quarters were found there. The army also released video footage from the tunnel system. The tunnels were subsequently destroyed, the military said.

Netanyahu denies pressure from the USA

In view of the 14 Israeli soldiers killed in the Gaza Strip within two days, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of a "difficult morning". At the same time, the Prime Minister predicted that the war would continue for a long time to come. "Our hearts are with the families and our sympathy goes out to the young lives that have been torn from the prime of their lives," said Netanyahu. The soldiers were killed on Friday and Saturday in battles with terrorists from the Islamist Hamas.

Since the Hamas attack on October 7, the army has lost at least 486 soldiers, about a third of them since the start of the ground offensive in the coastal strip on October 27. Netanyahu reiterated that Israel would continue its fight until Hamas had been destroyed, all hostages had been freed and Israel would never again be threatened from the Gaza Strip. He had also said this to US President Joe Biden in a telephone call the previous evening. The USA understands this, said Netanyahu. Reports that the USA had urged Israel to take different action against Hamas were untrue. Israel would not be persuaded by anyone. "Let's be very clear: this will be a long war," said the head of government.