Israel says eight hostages have died in the first phase of the Gaza deal.
Eight of the 26 hostages to be freed by Hamas in the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal have died, Israel said.
David Menser, a government spokesman, told reporters that Israel received a list of the hostages’ condition overnight from a Palestinian militant group.
“The Hamas list is similar to the Israeli intelligence agency, so I can share with you… 8 of them were killed by Hamas,” he said, without naming them. “Their families have been informed about the condition of their relatives.”
Since the ceasefire began on January 19, seven women have been released alive in exchange for more than 290 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
On Sunday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that Hamas had agreed to release Arbel Yehud, a female civilian, Agham Berger, a female soldier, and one other hostage on Thursday.
The group said three more hostages would be released on Saturday.
On October 7, 2023, an unprecedented cross-border attack left nearly 1,200 people dead and 251 hostages.
Since then, more than 47,310 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
According to Israel, 87 of the hostages are still in custody and 34 are said to be dead. Also, three Israelis who were abducted before the war are alive, one of whom is dead.
One of the hostages Israel says must be released in the first phase is 34-year-old Or Levy, who was at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, with his wife, Ainav.
The couple, whose son Almog is now three years old, fled to a roadside bomb shelter after being attacked by Hamas militants. When Orr was kidnapped and returned to Gaza, Ainav was killed in the shelter.
At Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square over the weekend, Orr’s brother Michael told the BBC that waiting to hear about the condition of the remaining 26 hostages was “like entering a part of an evil reality invented by the devil himself and enjoyed by Hamas.” “.
He said he had no clue when or if it would be resolved, and that there would be what he described as “an end date to this nightmare.”
Michael also said he was worried that Hamas might delay his brother’s release.
We cannot just sit back and hope for the best. We must continue. And until he comes, I don’t believe it’s really done.
On Saturday, following the release of four female Israeli soldiers in the second ceasefire, an Israeli military spokesman said he was concerned about the safety of three hostages – 33-year-old Shiri Bibas and her two children, Kfar, two, and Ariel, five.
Hamas claimed they were killed in an Israeli airstrike in November 2023. However, the Israeli army did not confirm their death, and the Israeli government stated that 33 of the hostages were among the first phase.
The second round of negotiations – the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for more prisoners, the withdrawal of the entire Israeli army and the “restoration of lasting stability” – will begin on February 4.
The third and final phase involves rebuilding Gaza, which could take years, and returning the bodies of the remaining hostages.
The Forum of Hostages and Families of the Disappeared is calling on the Israeli government to implement all three steps and return every hostage.
“We are not complete without them. Our nation needs everyone at home, together. Until the last hostage,” he says.
Meanwhile, the deputy chief of Israel’s military medical team said some of the seven recently released hostages had spent “all their time in underground tunnels” in recent months.
“Some of them were alone the whole time they were there,” Col. Dr. Avi Banov said, according to Reuters news agency. “They were better off together.”
He stated that the treatment of the hostages improved when they were allowed to bathe, change their clothes and get better food days before their release.