Yahya Sinwar used six Israeli hostages as human shields

Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip recently eliminated by Israel, used six Israeli hostages as human shields. They were killed in a tunnel in the Gazan town of Rafah late last August, noted a report by Israel's Channel 12.

The six hostages: Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat and Almog Sarusi, survived for months on energy bars. It is estimated that they were executed because they were too weak to be moved from place to place by Sinwar. The terrorist leader then left the Rafah tunnels and was eliminated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) days later.

The Channel 12 report also revealed details of the last moments of the Israeli hostages, five of whom were kidnapped during the Oct. 7 massacre at the Nova music festival, while Carmel Gat was forcibly taken from her home in Kibbutz Be'eri on the same day.

In November 2023, under an agreement reached between Israel and Hamas, 80 Israelis were released, while 25 foreigners were released outside the treaty reached by the parties.

In those days, Israel agreed not to carry out surveillance work at certain times, which was taken advantage of by the Palestinian terrorist group to move the hostages to new hideouts, Channel 12 reported.

In one of the vehicles heading toward Rafah, where the IDF had not yet raided, there were three hostages who had been wounded at the Nova festival: Almog Sarusi, Uri Danino and Hirsch Goldberg-Polin, who was also a U.S. citizen. Hamas terrorists had also arrived there with the other three hostages: Eden Yerushalmi, Alex Lubnov and Carmel Gat.

After more than half a year in captivity, the conditions of the six hostages began to worsen around June, when four other Israelis were rescued by the IDF in a spectacular operation in Gaza. One of those freed was Noa Argamani, the Israeli who became one of the symbols of Oct. 7 after images of her kidnapping at the Nova music festival went viral.

In mid-August, while the IDF was operating in Rafah, it decided to launch an operation in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood, as it believed that Sinwar and some 26 terrorists were inside a building, which was demolished by Israeli forces, Channel 12 added.

Among the terrorists in that building were members of Hamas who had been guarding the six hostages for about eight months, while other members of the Islamist organization, who had been holding the Israelis captive, fled the area due to IDF operations.

According to Channel 12, these terrorists were replaced by others who were younger and less experienced. The Israeli media outlet added that they had been ordered to assassinate the hostages in case the IDF approached the site.

Channel 12 further indicated that in mid-August, the terrorists who were guarding the hostages apparently felt that their lives were in danger, so they shot them to death.

On Aug. 31, when Israeli soldiers found the bodies of the hostages, they found Sinwar's DNA near the site, which indicated that the terrorist leader was in the area sometime between Aug. 21 and 27. The report added that the terrorists who murdered the abductees were eliminated during the IDF operation in which the bodies of the six Israelis were found.

Therefore, everything seems to indicate that the six Israeli hostages were used by Yahya Sinwar as human shields and survived for months on energy bars until they were finally executed, as they were too weak to be moved to "protect" the terrorist leader, per Channel 12.

Farhan al-Qadi, an Arab-Israeli hostage who was rescued alive from the same tunnel system, was discovered days before the six abductees were executed.

The terrorists guarding al-Qadi were eliminated by the IDF after they abandoned him when they sensed Israeli troops approaching.

In statements made to Israeli media about a month after his rescue, al-Qadi claimed that although he was less than a mile away from the six executed hostages, he never knew they were there.

IDF says hostage killings are under investigation

The IDF referred to the Channel 12 report, stating that the killing of the six hostages is under investigation and that the findings will be presented to the families of the victims and made public.

The Israeli military noted that it was not aware that the hostages were in the area where they operated and that the mission was carried out with particular caution given the possibility that there could be captives present. It added that lessons from this incident were immediately learned and integrated into the actions of the troops on the ground.