CNN
The Israel Defense Forces says its representatives have informed the families of four hostages being held in Gaza “that they are no longer alive.”
The IDF said it had told the families of Chaim Peri, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Cooper, and Nadav Popplewell “who were brutally abducted to the Gaza Strip on October 7, that they are no longer alive and that their bodies are held by the Hamas terrorist organization.”
The IDF said the decision to pronounce the four hostages dead was based on intelligence and was confirmed by a Ministry of Health expert committee, in coordination with the Ministry of Religious Services and the Chief Rabbi of Israel.
The circumstances of their deaths in Hamas captivity are still under examination, according to the IDF, which says it uses a “a wide variety of methods to gather information about the hostages who remain in the Gaza Strip.”
Chief spokesperson for the IDF, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said “Their loved ones were killed a few months ago during Hamas captivity in Gaza and their bodies are still being held by Hamas. We assess that the four of them were killed while together in the area of Khan Younis during an operation there against Hamas.”
In May, Hamas said Popplewell, an Israeli-British citizen, had died from wounds following a strike by Israeli fighter jets on his place of detention over a month earlier.
CNN is not able to independently verify the claim by Hamas.
More than 250 people were taken hostage and moved to Gaza during Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel but more than 100 were released during a temporary truce last year. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office believes there are still 124 hostages, living and dead, in Gaza – four of whom were taken before October 7. Of the remaining 120 who were taken on October 7, Israel now believes 41 are dead.
Israeli War Cabinet minister and Chairman of Israel’s National Unity Party, Benny Gantz sent condolences to the families of those declared dead on Monday, saying on his Telegram channel the news was “a painful reminder of our supreme moral duty to continue to fight against terrorism and to do everything to return all the hostages home as soon as possible, even at painful costs.”
The latest deaths are likely to increase pressure on the Israeli leadership to secure a ceasefire proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden last week.
