Hamas announces the death of two Israeli hostages: Yossi Sharabi and Itay Svirsky

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas published a video this Monday announcing the death of two Israeli hostagesboth men, kidnapped in southern Israel on October 7 and taken to Gaza.

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Images released by Hamas show a young hostage who says that two men with whom she shared captivity died. The Israeli press identified the hostage as Noa Argamani, 26.

It is unclear when the video was recorded. In a statement included in the recording, Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedin al Qasam Brigades, claims that the two men “died in Zionist bombings in Gaza.”

The Islamist group released another video on Sunday, in which Argamani is seen with two live hostages. The men – identified by the Israeli press as Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itay Svirsky, 38 – were reported dead on Monday.

Hamas captured about 250 hostages during its October 7 attack in Israel. Israeli authorities estimate that 132 are still held in Gaza, but that 25 of them have died.

Shortly after the video was released, the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant declared in a press conference that the Islamist group is exerting “psychological pressure” on the relatives of the hostages. “Hamas has received a heavy blow from the IDF (the armed forces),” he said.

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“What remains for them is to touch a sensitive nerve in Israeli society through acts of psychological abuse against family members.”

The minister ruled out any ceasefire and He defended that the only way to free the hostages is to continue applying “military pressure.” Otherwise, “no one will talk to us” and “we will not reach any agreement.”

AFP