The suffering of the six Israeli hostages who were murdered

The terrible war in Gaza has become synonymous with death and destruction, innocent men, women and children dying or being severely injured as the Israeli bombs land, seeking out Hamas fighters hiding amidst the civilian population, even when they are taking refuge in designated refugee camps.But the suffering of the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 should never be forgotten as the main focus continues to be on the appalling plight of the Palestinian people. The six young Israelis who were murdered by their Hamas captors just minutes before Israeli commandos arrived to rescue them, had lived for months in a tiny section of a tunnel in southern Gaza which, according to the Israeli military, was just two to three feet wide and five feet high. There were no washing facilities, just bottles, and terrible ventilation, made worse by what must have become a stinking hellhole. Not for the first time it is difficult to imagine negotiating with people like this who are prepared to put other human beings through such agony. The suffering they must have experienced is too awful to contemplate. What the remaining hostages are going through should never be forgotten. Nor should it be forgotten that the man who is orchestrating these brutal conditions for the innocent hostages, Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, is still alive and plotting his next moves to exploit their fate for his own political and ideological purposes.