Newly screened footage gives unprecedented insight into what hostages went through in first months of Hamas captivity

The footage recovered by the military and screened tonight on Israel’s Channel 12, showing the six Israeli hostages who were murdered by their captors in August 2024, gives a uniquely extensive glimpse into what the hostages went through during their first months in Hamas captivity.

While the videos were filmed by Hamas terrorists likely for propaganda purposes, the material is unlike other clips published during the war showing hostages reading statements evidently dictated by their captors.

Footage found by the IDF in Gaza and published on December 11, 2025, shows hostages Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Carmel Gat, Alexander Lobanov and Hersh Goldberg-Polin in a Gaza tunnel where they are were held captive in late 2023. (Courtesy)

The IDF reportedly recovered hours of footage filmed by the Hamas terrorists of the six hostages during their captivity in late 2023, which were ultimately not released by the terror group. Hamas, however, did release clips of some of the six hostages reading statements, both before and after their deaths.

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.

During the ground offensive in Gaza, the military has recovered unpublished footage of other hostages, some of which has been released to the public by their families, although none as extensive.