Israel confirms 4 hostages killed in Gaza, military investigating circumstances of deaths
CBC
The Israeli military on Monday confirmed the deaths of four more hostages held by Hamas — including three older men seen in a Hamas video begging for their release.
The three men were were identified as Chaim Peri, 80, Yoram Metzger, 80, and Amiram Cooper, 84. Looking weak and wary, they appeared in a video in December released by Hamas under the title, "Don't let us grow old here."
The fourth hostage was identified as 51-year-old Nadav Popplewell.
Israel's military spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the four men died together in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis when Israel was operating there a "number of months" ago.
The military said Monday that the decision to pronounce the men dead was based on intelligence and confirmed by health officials and Israel's chief rabbi.
The cause of their deaths was not immediately known, but Hagari acknowledged "there are a lot of questions."
"We are thoroughly examining the circumstances of their deaths and checking all possibilities. We will present soon the findings, first to their families, and then to the public," he said. "We will present them with transparency, as we have done until now."
Israel carried out a major offensive in Khan Younis, a Hamas stronghold, early this year. Hamas claimed in May that Popplewell had died after being wounded in an Israeli airstrike, but provided no evidence.
Cooper, Metzger and Peri were featured in a Hamas propaganda video in which Peri, clearly under duress, said in the video that all three men had chronic illnesses and accused Israel of abandoning them.
Peri was at his house in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas attack. He tried to repel the gunmen while hiding his wife behind a sofa, his son later told Reuters. He eventually gave himself up to save his wife, who remained hidden, his son said.
Cooper and Metzger, also from Nir Oz, were captured along with their wives, both of whom were returned to Israel during a brief November truce.
Cooper was an economist and one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz, according to the Hostages Forum, a grassroots group representing the families of the hostages. Metzger helped found the kibbutz winery, and Peri built the community's art gallery and sculpture garden.
Nir Oz was among the hardest-hit towns near the border with Gaza during the Oct. 7 attack.
Popplewell, according to the Hostages Forum, was captured with his mother from her home in Kibbutz Nirim. His brother was killed during the attack. His mother was freed during the November truce.
