From the Liveblog of
Thursday, December 11, 2025
Footage recovered by IDF shows 6 hostages lighting Hanukkah candles 8 months before execution
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Footage recovered by the Israeli military during operations in the Gaza Strip shows the six Israeli hostages who were murdered by their captors in August 2024, lighting Hanukkah candles in a tunnel.
The six, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Ori Danino, 25, Alex Lobanov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Almog Sarusi, 27, were killed by their captors in a tunnel in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood on August 29, 2024, and were discovered by IDF troops two days later.
The video, filmed by a Hamas terrorist, shows the hostages reciting the candle-lighting blessing and singing the Hanukkah song “Ma’oz Tzur” in December 2023.
During the war, the IDF, upon finding footage or other findings of hostages in Gaza, has presented them to their families, who often release them to the public.
Channel 12 news is set to air additional footage of the six hostages in captivity tonight.
This video published on December 11, 2025, after being obtained by the IDF from Gaza, shows hostages Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, and Almog Sarusi lighting Hanukkah candles in a tunnel in the Gaza Strip in late 2023. (Courtesy)
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