Israeli military releases video of hostage tunnel where six died

The Israeli military has released a video showing the tunnel in the Gaza Strip in which six Israeli hostages were held captive by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and killed.

The shaft into the tunnel was buried in a child's bedroom at a home in southern Gaza, army spokesman Daniel Hagari said in the video.

He is seen in the video standing in a bombed-out room with colourful Disney characters still visible on the walls.

The shaft leads to a low, narrow tunnel stretching about 120 metres to an iron door.

"This is where the hostages were held captive and murdered," Hagari says in the video, which is around three and a half minutes long.

The bodies were recovered early this month.

"This is their blood," Hagari said in the video, pointing to large dark stains on the floor of the tunnel. "They were here, for weeks and months, in this tunnel where there is no air to breathe, where you cannot stand."

"They survived, but they were murdered by terrorists," he added.

The six bodies were found just over a week ago and transferred to Israel, according to the Israeli military.

The army suspects that the hostages had been deliberately killed by their captors shortly before the bodies were found. Hamas, however, claimed that the hostages were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

There are still 101 hostages held by Hamas, "some of them alive," said Hagari. He said they are being held captive in similar tunnels.