The tunnel shaft where the bodies of six Israeli hostages were discovered last week was discovered to be hidden beneath a child’s bedroom, the IDF disclosed on Wednesday.

Forces with the IDF’s 162nd Division and the Shin Bet received “clear intelligence” regarding the location of the tunnel shaft in the area around Rafah, leading them to discover an entry point hidden in a child’s room whose walls showed cartoon paintings of Mickey Mouse and Snow White.

"As you can see, this tunnel was hidden in a child’s bedroom,” a soldier explained in a video shared by the IDF on social media. “A place for a child should be safe and not used as a human shield by Hamas. This is exactly what Hamas does: they hide behind the civilian population, putting them at risk. From this tunnel, we rescued the bodies of six Israeli hostages.”

Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit

The IDF retrieved the bodies of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Carmel Gat, 40, Ori Danino, 25, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Alexander Lobanov, 32, and Almog Sarusi, 27, from the tunnel below the child’s bedroom on Saturday. IDF troops also reportedly found children’s drawings and teddy bears from the area where the bodies were recovered.

Hamas is believed to have murdered the six hostages shortly before IDF forces, who were operating in the area, were able to reach them. Several days prior, former Israeli hostage Farhan Al-Qadi was rescued about a kilometre away. The area, heavily guarded by terrorists, is riddled with traps and IEDs, according to the IDF.