Watch: Israeli Military Uncovers Gaza Tunnel That Once Held Hostages in 'Inhumane' Conditions

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have discovered a booby-trapped tunnel in the Gaza Strip, containing cramped cells where the military says that Hamas held some 20 hostages in “harsh and inhumane” conditions.

“After walking about a kilometer in the tunnel, at a depth of about 20 meters underground, the soldiers found a central chamber where, according to testimonies of hostages who returned from Gaza, we understand that they spent most of their time,” military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari was quoted as saying by The Times of Israel.

No hostages were there when it was discovered, the report said. They found a holding area, five narrow rooms behind metal bars, toilets, mattresses, and even drawings by a child hostage who was freed during a November truce, he said.

The Israeli military released photos from the underground labyrinth and said it brought in journalists to document the tunnel before it was destroyed.

The tunnel entrance, Hagari said, was in the house of a Hamas member in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, where Israel has been focusing its fight in recent weeks against the Palestinian Islamist group. “The soldiers entered the tunnel where they encountered terrorists, engaging in a battle that ended with the elimination of the terrorists,” Hagari said. The tunnel was rigged with blast doors and explosives, he said.

“According to the testimonies we have, about 20 hostages were held in this tunnel at different times under harsh conditions without daylight, in dense air with little oxygen, and terrible humidity that makes breathing difficult,” he said. “Some of them were released about 50 days ago, and some are still held in Gaza and may be under even harsher conditions, including very elderly people who need medication and help,” Hagari added.

Some of the hostages kept there were freed during the week-long Qatari-mediated truce. Others are among the more than 130 captured during Hamas’ Oct. 7 rampage through southern Israel that are still in Gaza.

Thousands of people demonstrated in central Tel Aviv on Saturday, calling for the return of hostages held in Gaza and early elections to oust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Demonstrators marched through the city’s Habima Square, a frequent protest site, with some carrying signs calling Netanyahu “the face of evil” and demanding “elections now”. Protesters demanding the return of hostages also gathered in Haifa and outside the premier’s Jerusalem residence.

(With agency inputs)