Hamas tunnel replica installed in front of the UN in Geneva
A container replicating the conditions under which Israeli hostages are held by Hamas was open to visitors.
On Monday and Tuesday, diplomats and curious onlookers were able for a few minutes to put themselves in the shoes of a hostage in a Hamas tunnel replicated in a container on the Place des Nations in Geneva.
The experience only lasted three minutes, but it shocked a number of ambassadors and aid workers, who entered the six-by-two-and-a-half-metre site. The Geneva citizens’ group that planned the event held talks with the association of relatives of hostages in Israel to make it as “authentic as possible”. Information was also obtained from the Israeli army.
After entering a cramped toilet with a Hamas banner above it, each participant enters a small room after a corridor closed off by a grille. They hear the original sounds of the massacre of October 7, as well as the screams of victims, gunfire and the impact of bombing raids that shake the infrastructure.
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On the floor, a mattress is strewn with the blood-stained clothes of children. A light then reflects portraits of hostages still being held. On Monday, the families of around ten women still being held were also present.
On Tuesday, outside, another organiser listed the names of the 136 people still being held hostage, denouncing war crimes against them. This pilot project could continue in other towns in Switzerland or in other countries. “It’s still too early to say,” says one organiser. “But there is enough interest to continue”.
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