Israel has announced that four of the hostages being held by Hamas have been declared dead. Nadav Popplewell, Amiram Cooper, Yoram Metzger, and Haim Peri were all taken hostage by Hamas on October 7th. Three of the hostages, Peri, Cooper, and Metzger, were featured in one of the Hamas propaganda videos released in December.
In March, Hamas claimed the three had been killed by Israeli forces in Khan Yunis.
IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari states that intelligence was only now able to confirm the deaths.
“We estimate that the four were killed together, in the Khan Younis area, several months ago, while being held by Hamas terrorists and while IDF forces were operating in Khan Younis,” he said.
“I know that difficult questions will arise regarding the circumstances of the deaths,” Hagari added, appearing to reference the possibility that the four had been killed by…
