The Israeli government confirmed this Monday (4) the deaths of 15 of the 137 hostages still held captive by the terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement in which it published the names of “15 civilians and military personnel who were killed and are still being held in Gaza.”
Among them are Shaked Dahan, Tomer Achims, Kirill Borovsky, Assaf Hammi, Mia Goren, Ofra Kidar, Aryeh Zalmanovitz, Eliyahu Margalit, Ronen Engel, Aviv Azili, Ravid Aryeh Katz, Shani Luke, Oren Goldin, Yonatan Samarno and Guy Iloz.
According to this list, 122 hostages remain alive in the Gaza Strip, out of more than 240 taken by Hamas during the October 7 attack. The Israeli government confirmed the 15 deaths based on intelligence information and evidence collected by troops deployed in the Palestinian enclave.
Among the hostages considered alive are two children, brothers Ariel and Kfir Bibas, aged 4 years and 10 months, respectively, who were kidnapped with their mother, Shiri Silverman Bibas – of Argentine origin -, and their father, Yarden Bibas.
Israel accused Hamas of violating the terms of a Nov. 24-30 truce by refusing to release the family. The militia claims that the three were killed by Israeli shelling.
On Saturday (2), thousands of people, including some of the recently freed hostages, demonstrated in Tel Aviv to demand that the government rescue the others, but Netanyahu insisted that the priority now is to intensify the military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
In total, 105 hostages – 81 Israelis and 24 foreigners (23 Thais and one Filipino) – were freed during the seven-day truce, which included the release of 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
They were joined by four other hostages who were previously released: a mother and a daughter with Israeli and American citizenship, as well as two elderly Israeli women.
Israel also recovered the bodies of three hostages who died in the Gaza Strip: a man, a soldier and an elderly woman. This brings the total number of living hostages and 15 dead in the Gaza Strip to 122; 110 were released alive and three were rescued after death.
The Hamas attack that triggered the war on October 7 left more than 1,200 people dead in Israel.
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