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The six hostages, whose bodies were found in Gaza over the summer, were probably shot in February by their captors as an Israeli strike hit close to the tunnel where they were held, the military said.
Dec. 4, 2024Updated 3:12 p.m. ET
Six Israeli hostages whose bodies were found in Gaza over the summer were probably shot dead by their Hamas captors in February, around the same time that an Israeli airstrike hit near the underground tunnel where they were being held, the Israeli military said on Wednesday.
Later on Wednesday night, the Israeli government said that its forces had recovered the body of another hostage, Itay Svirsky, 38, in Gaza. Mr. Svirsky was abducted from Be’eri, a small village near the Gaza border, during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza. Both his parents were killed during the assault.
The two announcements added fuel to an already anguished debate in Israel over whether the country’s military campaign in Gaza is endangering the return of the remaining 100 captives held there, at least some of whom are presumed dead.
The Israeli military said its investigators and pathologists could not definitively determine how the group of six hostages had been killed, as their bodies were recovered six months after they were killed. Israeli troops found the bodies with “signs of gunfire” on them in the southern city of Khan Younis in August. The hostages were killed in February, around the same time that Israeli fighter jets targeted a Hamas site in Khan Younis, according to the military.
It was only later that Israeli officials learned the bombardment had hit, at most, 220 yards from where the six hostages were being held, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, said in a televised news conference.
“We were supposed to bring them home alive, and we failed in our mission,” Admiral Hagari said.
The airstrike ultimately killed the hostages’ Hamas guards, most likely by asphyxiation, said an Israeli military official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to comply with protocol.
