Israeli captives likely executed by their captors during Israeli airstrike – IDF
More than three months after the bodies of six former hostages were recovered from a Hamas tunnel in Khan Younis, the IDF has determined that the captives were likely executed by their captors during an Israeli airstrike.
The hostages—Alex Dancyg (75), Yagev Buchshtav (35), Chaim Peri (79), Yoram Metzger (80), Nadav Popplewell (51), and Avraham Munder (78)—were initially kidnapped alive during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack. After months in captivity, they were found in a narrow tunnel beneath the Hamad Town residential complex on August 20, 2024, following airstrikes in February that targeted Hamas infrastructure.
The IDF investigation revealed the captives had been moved multiple times within the Khan Younis tunnel network before their deaths.
The airstrikes, which targeted a Hamas battalion commander, had been authorized based on intelligence indicating no hostages were present in the area. However, forensic analysis found gunshot wounds on the hostages, strongly suggesting they were executed by Hamas guards, potentially during or immediately following the attack.
Six Hamas operatives were also found dead in the tunnel from suffocation or carbon dioxide poisoning caused by the airstrike. The investigation concluded that the hostages would likely have died from the same conditions even if they had not been shot.
Hamas propaganda videos previously showed some of the hostages alive, with conflicting claims about their deaths. Hamas falsely asserted that some were killed by Israeli strikes or due to lack of food and medical care.
The IDF operation that recovered the hostages’ remains met no resistance within the tunnel but involved clashes with Hamas fighters in the surrounding area.
The tragic fate of these hostages underscores the complex and deadly dynamics of their captivity in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the IDF has announced that it conducted a drone strike earlier today targeting a Hezbollah rocket launcher in southern Lebanon’s Majdal Zoun.
The launcher, according to the military, violated agreements between Israel and Lebanon and posed a direct threat to Israel.
Additionally, IDF troops destroyed Hezbollah weapons caches discovered in Khiam, as-Sawana, and Aitaroun in southern Lebanon.
“The IDF is deployed in southern Lebanon and takes action against any threat to the State of Israel,” the statement concluded.
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