New Gaza Tunnel Footage Shows Slain Israeli Hostages Marking Chanukah
Six Israelis kidnapped in the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7 were filmed lighting improvised Chanukah candles in a tunnel in Gaza roughly eight months before they were executed there, according to footage recovered by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and released by their families this week.
The videos, made public days before this year’s Chanukah festivities, have reignited anger and grief in Israel over the failure to secure a deal that could have brought the hostages home alive.
The material, filmed by Hamas for propaganda but never broadcast, shows Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Alex Lobanov and Almog Sarusi singing Chanukah songs and discussing sufganyot—traditional Chanukah donuts.
Give the gift of hope
We practice what we preach:
accurate, fearless journalism. But we can't do it alone.
- On the ground in Gaza, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and more
- Our program trained more than 100 journalists
- Calling out fake news and reporting real facts
- On the ground in Gaza, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and more
- Our program trained more than 100 journalists
- Calling out fake news and reporting real facts
Join us.
Support The Media Line. Save democracy.
In one clip, Goldberg-Polin can be heard comparing their situation as hostages to the Jews in Nazi Germany. In other scenes, the hostages are seen hugging, smiling, playing games, eating fruit, and receiving haircuts in an attempt to hide the reality of the cruel conditions in captivity.
The IDF says it retrieved hours of video during operations in the Gaza Strip and shared it privately with relatives before excerpts were aired on Israeli television.
According to a military investigation, the six were kept for an extended period in a cramped tunnel under Rafah’s Tel Sultan district, where troops later reported finding plastic bottles filled with urine, a rudimentary toilet and visible blood marks on the walls and floor.
The inquiry concluded that the hostages were killed by Hamas gunfire on August 29, 2024, during an IDF push in the area. Soldiers retrieved their bodies approximately two days later.
