Israeli Military Reports Family Of 4 Kidnapped Hostages In Gaza Strip Has Died

Israeli Army/PHOTO ILLUSTRATION via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - The Israeli military (IDF) said its representatives had informed the families of the four hostages detained in Gaza that they were no longer alive.

The IDF said it had notified the families of Chaim Peri, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Cooper, and Nadav Popplewell who were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, they were no longer alive.

The IDF said the decision to announce four dead hostages was based on intelligence and confirmed by an expert committee of the Ministry of Health, coordinating with Israel's Ministry of Religious Services and Rabi Chiefs.

Their death toll at Hamas is still under investigation, according to the IDF, which said it used manifold methods to gather information about the hostages still in the Gaza Strip.

IDF's lead spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Badminton, said their loved ones were killed a few months ago during Hamas' run in Gaza and their bodies are still being held by Hamas. "We assess that the four of them were killed together in the Khan Younis area during the operation against Hamas there," he said as quoted by CNN, Tuesday, June 4.

In May, Hamas said Popplewell, an Israeli-English citizen, died of injuries from an Israeli fighter jet strike at his detention site a month earlier.

CNN was unable to independently verify Hamas claims.

More than 250 people were held hostage and transferred to Gaza during a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, but more than 100 people were released during a temporary ceasefire last year.

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office believes there are still 124 hostages, alive and dead, in Gaza four of whom were kidnapped before October 7. Of the other 120 hostages held hostage on October 7, Israel is now confident 41 people died.

Israeli War Cabinet Minister and Israeli National Unity Party chairman Benny Gantz expressed his condolences to their families who were declared dead on Monday, June 3, saying on his Telegram channel the news was a painful reminder of our highest moral duty to continue fighting terrorism and to do everything in order to return all hostages as quickly as possible, even at high costs.