The Israeli army confirmed the death of four more on Monday hostages held by Hamas – including three elderly men seen in a Hamas video calling for their release.
All three men, Amiram Cooper, Yoram Metzger and Haim Peri, were in their 80s and older. Looking frail and wary, they appeared in a December video released by Hamas with the caption: “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 southern Gaza town of Khan Younis when Israel was operating there. The cause of death was not immediately known.
“We are checking all options,” Hagari said. “There are a lot of questions.”
Cooper was 84, Metzger and Peri 80, and Popplewell 51, according to the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, which represents the families of Israeli abductees.
Amir Levy/Getty Images
Confirmation of his death 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 – they had been recovered and their families notified. They are believed to have been killed on October 7 at the Mefalsim intersection and their bodies taken to Gaza.
Israel launched a major offensive in Khan Younis, a Hamas stronghold, earlier this year.
Hamas claimed in May that Popplewell had died after being wounded in an Israeli airstrike, but provided no proof.
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 add to the growing list of hostages Israel says have died in captivity. On October 7, Hamas returned some 250 hostages to Gaza. About half were released during a brief ceasefire period in November. Of about 130 left in the strip, about 85 are believed to be still alive.
The families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas called over the weekend for all parties to immediately accept three-phase deal outlined by President Biden Friday to end the nearly 8-month war and bring their families home.
In a statement Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office referred to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza as a “non-starter” until long-term conditions to end the war are met, which seems to undermine the agreement that Biden had announced as an Israeli.
