Brian McDonald
The Israeli military confirmed on Monday the deaths of four more hostages held by Hamas — including three older men seen in a Hamas video pleading for their release.
The three men, Amiram Cooper, Yoram Metzger and Haim Peri, were 80 years old or older. Appearing weak and wary, they appeared in a video released in December by Hamas under the title “Don’t let us grow old here.”
The fourth hostage was identified as Nadav Popplewell.
Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said the four men died together in the town of Khan Younis in southern Gaza when Israel operated there. The cause of death was not immediately known.
“We are looking at all options,” Hagari said. “There are a lot of questions.”
According to the Forum for Hostages and Missing Families, which represents the families of Israeli abductees, Cooper was 84, Metzger and Peri were 80 and Popplewell was 51.
Amir Levy/Getty Images
The confirmation of their deaths came less than two weeks after Hagari issued a statement on social media announcing that the bodies of three hostages killed on October 7 – Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum and Orion Hernandez Radoux – were recovered and their families notified. They are believed to have been killed on 7 October at the Mefalsim crossing and their bodies taken to Gaza.
Israel carried out a major offensive on Khan Younis, a Hamas stronghold, earlier this year.
Hamas said in May that Popplewell died after being wounded in an Israeli airstrike, but provided no evidence.
Cooper, Metzger and Peri appeared in a Hamas propaganda video in which Peri, clearly under duress, said in the video that the three men had chronic illnesses and accused Israel of abandoning them.
The deaths added to the growing list of hostages that Israel says died in captivity. On October 7, Hamas took around 250 hostages back to Gaza. Approximately half were released during a brief ceasefire in November. Of the approximately 130 remaining in the range, about 85 are believed to still be alive.
The families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas over the weekend appealed to all parties to immediately accept the three-phase deal outlined by President Biden Friday to end the nearly 8-month war and bring their relatives home.
In a statement on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office referred to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza as “impossible” until long-standing conditions for ending the war are met, appearing to undermine the deal that Biden had announced as a deal. Israeli.
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