Israel has confirmed the deaths of two more hostages in Hamas captivity amid fears the Israeli military mistakenly killed the two men in Gaza.
Yagev Buchshtab, 35, and Alex Dancyg, 76, were abducted during the October 7 attack by Hamas, and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said today that a panel of doctors declared them dead based on new intelligence information.
The Israeli military said it was still investigating the deaths of the two hostages.
Local media outlets reported that the IDF is currently investigating whether the two hostages were killed in Israeli strikes.
Buchsthab and Candyg were believed to have died several months ago while they were held together in Khan Younis, where the IDF was operating at the time, the Times of Israel reports. The area came under heavy bombardment.
Hamas claimed in March that Buchshtab had died due to lack of food and medication, while Dancyg had been killed by Israeli fire. These claims have not been confirmed by the IDF, which did not say anything on how the two men died.
Yagev Buchshtab (pictured), 35, and Alex Dancyg, 76, were abducted during the October 7 attack by Hamas, and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said today that a panel of doctors declared them dead based on new intelligence information
The Israeli military said it was still investigating the deaths of the two hostages, who were believed to have died several months ago while they were held together in Khan Younis, where the IDF was operating at the time, the Times of Israel reports
Palestinians walk past the rubble of houses destroyed during the Israeli military offensive, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip July 10, 202
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the possibility that ‘at least one’ of the hostages was killed by IDF air strikes was being investigated.
Buchshtab, a sound engineer, was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nirim along with his wife Rimon Buchshtab-Kirsht, who was released after 50 days in captivity, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
Dancyg, who was born to Holocaust survivors, worked at Yad Vashem, the International Holocaust Remembrance Institute, and trained thousands of guides there, it added.
Hostages who were held captive with him reported that Dancyg spent his time in captivity giving history lectures to fellow captives, according to the forum.
‘Yagev and Alex were taken alive and should have returned alive to their families and to their country,’ the statement read.
‘Their death in captivity is a tragic reflection of the consequences of foot-dragging in negotiations,’ it said referring to ceasefire talks that have dragged on for months.
Their deaths are a ‘stark reminder of the urgency’ of bringing the hostages home, the campaign group added.
This comes as talks to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the release of some 120 captives there were set to resume later this week.
An Israeli negotiation team was due on Thursday to set off to mediated Gaza ceasefire talks that would include the issue of hostages being released in return for Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli authorities have so far pronounced dead in absentia around a third of the hostages still held in Gaza.
A woman holds a photo of Israeli hostage Yagev Buchshtab as people hold up pictures of other hostages as they attend a protest calling for a deal and the release of the hostages held in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza, outside Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, April 9, 2024
Palestinian families return to their houses left amid rubble and devastating destruction after Israeli forces’ withdrawal from Khan Yunis, Gaza on April 8, 2024
Israel believes that more than a third of the hostages taken to the Gaza Strip on October 7 are now dead, nine months after they were kidnapped.
During the October 7 attack, Hamas militants seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, including 44 the Israeli military and officials say are dead.
The attack by Hamas resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 39,006 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.