JERUSALEM — The Israeli military declared four other hostages kidnapped dead on October 7, including three elderly people seen in a Hamas video pleading to be released. Monday’s announcement. increases the pressure to the Israeli government accept a US ceasefire proposal that could secure the return of the hostages still in Gaza and put an end the eight month war.
About 80 hostages in Gaza are believed to be alive, along with the remains of 43 others. In the days since the Biden administration announced the ceasefire proposal on Friday, Israel has seen some of its largest protests calling on the government to bring them home. The Israeli leadership appeared to set aside President Joe Biden’s proposal, vowing to continue conducting military operations against Hamas until the militant group is destroyed.
The four men declared dead Monday night — Nadav Popplewell, Amiram Cooper, Yoram Metzger and Haim Peri — were kidnapped and taken alive to Gaza, according to the Hostage Forum, a grassroots group representing the families of the hostages.
“It is time to end this cycle of sacrifice and abandonment,” the group wrote in a statement following the announcement. “His murder in captivity is a sign of shame and a sad reflection of the importance of delaying previous agreements.” The group called on the government to immediately approve the new ceasefire plan.
About 100 captives were freed during a week-long exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners in November. Three of the men declared dead Monday had female relatives who were freed during the exchange.
Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said the four hostages were killed while together during the army’s operation in Khan Younis in central Gaza. He said the four were killed months ago, but recent operations allowed the military to gather enough intelligence to declare them dead. Their bodies are still in the hands of Hamas.
“We are reviewing all options. “There are a lot of questions,” she stated.
Cooper, Metzger and Peri were all 80 years old or older. They appeared in a video released in December by Hamas under the title “Don’t let us grow old here.” In the video, the three men appear emaciated and wear thin white T-shirts.
“We are the generation that built the foundation of the State of Israel,” says Haim Peri, noting that all men suffer from chronic illnesses. “We don’t understand why they have abandoned us here.”
Hamas claimed in May that the other hostage reported dead, Nadav Popplewell, died after being wounded in an Israeli airstrike, but provided no evidence. Popplewell was over 50 years old.
Cooper was an economist and one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz, according to the hostage forum. Metzger helped found the kibbutz winery, and Peri built the community’s art gallery and sculpture garden.
Nir Oz was one of the hardest hit towns near the Gaza border during the Hamas attack on October 7, when Palestinian militants stormed into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and dragging about 250 hostages back to Gaza.
The military said Monday that the decision to declare the men dead was based on intelligence information and was confirmed by health officials and Israel’s chief rabbi.
Monday night’s news came after an announcement earlier that day that the body of a suspected hostage, Dolev Yehud, 35, was found in a community near the Gaza border that Hamas militants had attacked. October 7. Yehud was thought to be among Dozens of hostages held in Gaza until Monday, when the military announced the discovery of his body and said he had died in the initial attack.
Israeli bombing and ground operations in Gaza have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Healththat does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Israel has been expanding its offensive on the southern city of Rafah, once main humanitarian aid center operations. The Israeli invasion of Rafah has largely caused cut the flow of food, medicine and other supplies to Palestinians facing widespread hunger.
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