The Israeli military said on Monday that four other hostages abducted in an Oct. 7 attack led by Hamas had died in Gaza months earlier, a revelation that is likely to give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanya Hu’s government has put pressure on it to move forward with the ceasefire.
Israeli military spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari told a news conference on Monday that the four hostages were believed to have been killed “months ago” near Khan Younis in southern Gaza while Israeli troops were on a mission in the Strip. . The military identified the men as Haim Perry, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Cooper and Nadav Papplewell.
Admiral Hagari said Monday’s decision to declare the hostages dead was based on “additional intelligence that has recently been confirmed, so it can be determined today that these four people are dead,” adding that he knew the “thorny issue” would not be resolved. the circumstances of their deaths. The Israeli military said the families of the four men had been informed that their bodies had been seized by Hamas and that the circumstances of their deaths “remain under investigation.”
Support group Hostage Families Forum issued a statement calling on the Israeli government to immediately reach an agreement on the release of the remaining hostages. The four people who were pronounced dead on Monday were said to have been alive when they were abducted from Kibbutz Nerim and Kibbutz Nir Oz and showed “signs of life” during the transition.
“Their murder in captivity is a disgrace and a sad reflection on the importance of delaying previous deals,” the group said.
Pressure has grown on Netanyahu to end the fighting in Gaza since President Biden last week publicly backed what he said was Israel’s proposal for a three-phase ceasefire. But Netanyahu’s far-right political allies have threatened his government with collapse if Israel reaches any deal to end the war without eliminating Hamas.
Netanyahu told lawmakers in a closed-door meeting on Monday that President Biden was not presenting the “whole picture” when describing the proposed ceasefire, according to a person who attended the meeting and requested anonymity to discuss private deliberations. But the person familiar with the matter said the Israeli leader was open to a 42-day ceasefire and would accept at least part of the first phase of the ceasefire plan.
Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas’ military wing, said on March 1 that the three men now declared dead – Mr Cooper, Mr Metzger and Mr Perry – were involved in an Israeli attack on Canada. One of the seven hostages killed in an airstrike in Sasha.
Hamas said on May 11 that a fourth man, Mr. Popwell, who died from injuries sustained in an Israeli airstrike more than a month ago, had been unable to receive adequate medical care because Israel had destroyed hospitals in Gaza. Earlier in the day, Hamas released an undated video of his captivity.
The New York Times reported in February that Israeli intelligence officials concluded that at least 30 hostages had died since the war began. The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said in March that it believed Israeli military operations in the enclave may have killed more than 70 hostages in total.
In December, Israeli troops shot and killed three hostages as they held up a makeshift white flag, an incident that shocked Israeli society and reignited the government’s continued offensive in Gaza rather than negotiate a ceasefire that would allow more hostages to be released. .
The Israeli military said in April that another hostage, a grandmother kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, was likely killed by Israeli helicopter fire.
