One of the fears of the movement that is pushing in Israel to bring back the hundred or so hostages remaining in Gaza, through a ceasefire agreement, is that arrived so late that their loved ones end up returning in coffins. This is exactly what happened after the Israeli army recovered the bodies of six civilians that Hamas had kidnapped alive during its attack on October 7, 2023. One of them is still believed to be alive. The military found them in the early hours of Tuesday, in the midst of express negotiation of a pact ending the invasion, in a tunnel in the Khan Yunis region, the army reported. It was an operation based “on precise intelligence” and without confrontation with his guards, who had apparently fled. Never in ten months of war had Israel rescued so many hostage bodies at the same time.
They are Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Jaim Perry. They are six civilians (four of them aged 75-80) who lived in two kibbutzim near Gaza – Nir Oz and Nirim – and met at dawn on October 7. with dozens of militiamen invading their homes and streets by surprise.
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After Tuesday's rescue, 109 hostages remain in Gaza, at least a third of whom are dead. Probably half, it is estimated. The attackers captured more than 250, but about 100 were exchanged in the last week of November (in the only respite in ten months of war) for the release of three times as many Palestinian prisoners, a week of ceasefire and the entry of more humanitarian aid. Since then, the army has carried out only very occasional rescues (two, with dual Argentine-Israeli nationalityin February; or four, with massive bombings that killed around 270 Gazans). He also found the bodies of other hostages or confirmed their deaths, in connection with the invasion.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main entrance hall In favor of their negotiated return, he welcomed the fact that the families could finally “give eternal rest to those murdered,” but urged the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to “do everything in its power to finalize the agreement that is on the table” because “the immediate return of the remaining 109 hostages can only be achieved through a pact” and Israel “has a moral and ethical obligation” that everyone comes home alive or “receives a decent burial.”
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Matti Dancyg, son of one of the six survivors, Alexander Dancyg, He indicted Netanyahu this morning on Israeli public radio. “He preferred to sacrifice the hostages to keep his government in place. “People will judge him and pay dearly,” he said.
Even though there was no one to say goodbye to, Dancyg had started to cry, because the military authorities had already confirmed his father's death. His death occurred in February, when he lost his life “probably in an army bombing that killed five hostages, although the investigation has not yet been made public,” because it is still ongoing. “The most important thing now is to recover those who are alive,” Matti Dancyg concluded.
Emergency
The authorities did indeed consider Avraham Munder, 79, alive. The Forum interpreted the discovery of his body as “further evidence of the urgency of sealing and implementing the agreement” presented by the mediators (the United States, Egypt and Qatar) last week and which will continue to be negotiated this week in Cairo. “Abraham was captured alive and endured agonizing captivity alongside his loved ones. He should have returned alive to his family. His murder in captivity highlights the delay in implementing the agreement, This could have saved his life and that of the other hostages.“, the forum noted.
Netanyahu issued a statement praising the troops and noting at the end that he “will continue to do everything possible to bring back all the hostages.” It came after a meeting the previous day with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Tel Aviv. After a nearly three-hour meeting, Blinken assured the leader that he supported the “consensus proposal” for a phased ceasefire in Gaza that mediators had worked out last week. The ball, he added, was now in Hamas’ court, urging it to “do the same” without delay.
The Islamist movement has already declared that it rejects the text, which it considers a suit hastily woven by Washington adapted to its great ally in the Middle East. One of its leaders, Osama Hamdan, assured at the end of the day that the negotiators did not know “the exact details of the new American proposal”, but regretted the “backsliding on the issues included in the document” presented by US President Joe Biden and supported by the United Nations Security Council. In fact, Hamas did not attend last week's negotiations in the Qatari capital, in protest against the changes compared to what had been agreed in July.
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