More than a fifth of remaining hostages in Gaza are dead: Israeli officials
More than a fifth of the nearly 140 Hamas hostages remaining in Gaza are dead, with at least 20 more feared to have also perished, according to Israeli military officials.
An internal assessment conducted by the IDF bumped up the hostage count from 132 to 136, with intelligence officers concluding that at least 32 have died since the war began, four Israeli military officials told the New York Times.
Most of the hostages who are confirmed dead are believed to have been killed in the initial Oct. 7 terrorist attack, which left more than 1,200 Israelis dead, officials said.
The military sources also noted that “unconfirmed intelligence” suggests that at least 20 more hostages may have also been killed either on Oct. 7 or while in captivity.
The families of the 32 hostages have been informed of their loved ones’ deaths, according to the report.
It remains unclear if the bump from 132 hostages to 136 was made to include Israeli citizens Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who disappeared in Gaza seven years ago, and the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who were killed in 2014.
The latest estimates from Israel come as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Cairo on Tuesday to help push negotiations through for an Israel-Hamas truce that would see the remaining hostages freed.
The US, Egypt and Qatar have been pushing a cease-fire deal in recent weeks which proposes a several-week-long pause in Gaza to allow Hamas to safely release the hostages in exchange for the freedom of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
The outlines of the deal have been proposed to Israeli and Hamas leaders, who continue to mull the details. While in Cairo, Blinken will likely receive an update on Hamas’ response, as its leadership has also convened in Egypt to discuss the terms of the deal.
Hamas has previously said it will not release the hostages until Israel frees all of its Palestinian prisoners, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he would not release thousands of prisoners in exchange for the hostages.
Netanyahu has also rejected proposals for a peaceful resolution to the war, vowing that the fighting in Gaza will only end when the Hamas terror group is wiped out.
The prime minister’s position, however, appears to be at odds with many Israelis, with the latest poll from the Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute finding that a majority of citizens want their country to prioritize the release of the hostages over defeating Hamas.
The poll of more than 760 people published on Tuesday showed that about 51% believed the main goal of the war should be to free the hostages in Gaza, while only around a third believed defeating Hamas should be the priority.
