Israel finds 5 hostages' bodies inside Hamas tunnel in Gaza (WATCH)

The Israeli military said it recovered the bodies of five Israeli hostages killed in captivity from an underground tunnel network of Hamas in northern Gaza. Footage posted by the IDF on X shows Israeli troops paying their respects to the fallen hostages.   

The Israeli military said on Sunday that it recovered the bodies of five hostages who were killed while in Hamas captivity. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) also released a video showing a Hamas tunnel network in Gaza City after locating three bodies on Sunday, following the retrieval of two others from a different area two weeks ago.

Taking to Twitter, IDF wrote on Twitter: "In a centralized intelligence effort, IDF troops located and recovered the bodies of 5 hostages abducted during the October 7 massacre and brought them back to Israel."

The remains of 27-year-old Eden Zakaria and 36-year-old Israeli soldier Ziv Dado were found earlier this month after they were kidnapped on October 7 and taken captive by Hamas during a music event in southern Israel. On Christmas eve, the three bodies who were still missing were identified as Sgt Ron Sherman, Cpl Nik Beizer, and Elia Toledano.

Israeli forces may be seen paying their condolences to the slain captives in footage that the IDF put on X.

On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel from Gaza. According to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures, approximately 1,140 people lost their lives in the assault, with the majority being civilians.

Hamas and other Palestinian militants seized around 250 hostages during the attack. Of these hostages, 105 have been released, while several others have died, including casualties from friendly fire incidents.