The announcement increases pressure on the Israeli government to accept a US ceasefire proposal that could guarantee the return of hostages still held in Gaza and end the eight-year-old war against Hamas. month.
Four other hostages kidnapped on October 7 have been declared dead by the Israeli military, including three elderly adults seen in a Hamas video pleading to be released. Monday’s announcement increases pressure on the Israeli government to accept a US ceasefire proposal which could guarantee the return of hostages still held in Gaza and end the war which has lasted for eight months.
Around 80 hostages in Gaza are believed to be alive, and Hamas is also holding the remains of 43 others. In the days since the Biden administration’s ceasefire proposal was announced on Friday, Israel has seen some of the largest protests demanding the government return the hostages home. Israeli leaders appeared to dismiss President Joe Biden’s proposalpledging to continue military operations against Hamas until the militant group is destroyed.
The four men reported dead Monday evening – Nadav Popplewell, Amiram Cooper, Yoram Metzger and Haim Peri – were kidnapped and taken to Gaza while still alive, according to the Hostages Forum, a grassroots group representing the families of the hostages.
Around a hundred captives were released during a hostage exchange against Palestinian prisoners which lasted a week in November. Three of the men reported dead Monday had female relatives who were freed in the exchange.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the four hostages were killed while they were together during the army’s operation in Khan Yunis in the central Strip. from Gaza. He said the four hostages had been killed several months ago, but that recent operations had allowed the army to collect enough information to declare them dead. Their bodies are still held by Hamas.
Cooper, Metzger and Peri were all aged 80 or older. They appeared in a video released in December by Hamas under the title “Don’t let us grow old here.” In this video, the three men appear gaunt, wearing thin white T-shirts.
“We are the generation that built the foundations of the State of Israel,” says Haim Peri, who notes that all men suffer from chronic illnesses. “We don’t understand why we were abandoned here.”
Hamas claimed in May that the other hostage declared deceased, Nadav Popplewell, died after being injured in an Israeli airstrike, but provided no evidence. Mr Popplewell was over 50 years old.
Mr. Cooper was an economist and one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz, according to the hostage forum. Metzger helped create the kibbutz winery and Peri built the community’s art gallery and sculpture garden.
Nir Oz was among the worst-hit towns near the Gaza border during the Hamas attack on October 7, when Palestinian militants stormed Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages back to Gaza.
The army said Monday that the decision to declare the men dead was based on intelligence and confirmed by health officials and Israel’s chief rabbi.
The news was announced late Monday after the body of a suspected hostage, Dolev Yehud, 35, was found in a community near the Gaza border that Hamas militants attacked on October 7. Dolev Yehud was thought to be among dozens of hostages held in Gaza until the army announced the discovery of his body and said he had been killed in the initial attack.
Israeli bombings and ground operations in Gaza have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
Israel has expanded its offensive to the southern town of Rafah, which was once the main hub for humanitarian aid operations. Israel’s invasion of Rafah has largely disrupted the flow of food, medicine and other supplies to Palestinians facing widespread famine.