This sad news (click on the screenshot to read) comes from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, self-described as:
. . . . .a Washington, DC-based nonpartisan 501(c)(3) research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. FDD does not accept donations from any foreign governments.
A precis:
Israeli authorities announced the death in captivity of six more Israelis held hostage by Iran-backed Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. In announcing the Nir Oz deaths, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on December 1 that the deaths were determined by a team of experts “based on findings that were collected, and intelligence.”
Kibbutz Beeri — one of the Israeli border communities overrun by Palestinian terrorists in the October 7 assault that triggered the war in Gaza — said that 70-year-old resident Ofra Keidar had died in Hamas captivity. Hamas terrorists had murdered her husband, Sammy, during the initial assault in which she was seized.
The IDF said four residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz who had been abducted also died in Gaza. They include Eliahu Margalit, 75; Ronen Angel, 54; Maya Goren, 56; and Aryeh Zalmanovich, 86. Goren’s husband, Avner, was murdered at the kibbutz on October 7. Hamas published a video of the ailing Zalmanovich on November 16, in what Israel described as psychological warfare.
A sixth Israeli citizen, Guy Illouz (also spelled “Iluz”), 26, was abducted from the music festival and dragged into Gaza. A group representing hostage families reported him killed on December 1.
I can’t find a current count of hostages who have died, but it must be at least eleven (I can’t find a notice), a count that may include the youngest hostage 10-month-old Kfir Bibas, supposedly killed with his 4-year-old brother Ariel and their mother Shira Bibas (this has not been verified by the IDF).
Three points: the deaths were ascertained only by the IDF, and apparently were not announced by the Palestinians, Hamas or otherwise. That seems to be just one more unconscionable act in a string of such acts by the terrorists.
Second, trading hostages for terrorists will be made more difficult if Israel doesn’t even know which hostages are still alive. Presumably Hamas wouldn’t agree to a trade unless the hostage was alive. They need to provide the IDF with a list of all living hostages.
Finally, some of the hostages are apparently not held by Hamas, but by other terrorist groups like Islamic Jihad, which claims it’s holding 30 hostages. And that group wants every imprisoned Palestinian terrorist released before they’ll let the hostages go, or so they claim. This would make bargaining doubly hard.
But apparently the trading is stopped; Israel is again going after Hamas.
Terrible news, but I’m not surprised that more of the hostages are turning up dead. We have little idea how many are still alive.
Yes. I too worry that there will be more and more terrible rather than good news. Thanks for the information.
It may mot make a difference, but Israel should say it will withdraw from Gaza if all hostages are returned. That’s the exchange, hostages for cessation of bombardment, no Palestinian prisoners released. Anyone who thinks the killing of innocent Palestinians must stop immediately should pressure Hamas to return hostages, and it will happen.
Leaving Hamas intact and in control of Gaza is not an acceptable war aim for Israel. Hamas clearly hopes that Israel will retreat if the hostages are dangled in front of its government– that’s why they took them in the first place (other than as sex objects) — but Israel can’t agree to such terms. If Hamas knows that taking hostages will prevent Israel from coming after them, there will be a lot more hostages taken in months to come.
My point was to make clear to the Palestinian people and the international community that Hamas is fully responsible for/in control of the deaths of Palestinian civilians. Such an offer (cease fire for hostages straight-up, no prisoner exchanges) has the potential to lead to calls from even other Arab nations condemning Hamas for brutality and insensitivity to their own people. (I’m grasping at straws.)