Dozens of hostages have been held in the Gaza Strip for eleven months. A deal for their release seems unlikely. Now new details about the circumstances of the hostage situation are emerging.
According to information from their relatives, the hostages held by the Islamist Hamas are being held in horrific conditions. The forum of the families of the kidnapped said that the results of an initial investigation into the fate of six hostages recently killed by the army were extremely worrying.
The investigation revealed that “the murdered hostages were (previously) held in narrow underground tunnels with little air,” it said. They suffered from extreme malnutrition and weight loss and showed “clear signs of long-term physical neglect.” The results of the investigation were presented to their relatives. The army did not officially comment on the matter.
According to Israeli military sources, the six bodies were found a week ago in a tunnel in the Rafah area in the south of the embattled Gaza Strip and brought to Israel. They had been deliberately killed by the kidnappers shortly beforehand. A Hamas spokesman, however, said the hostages had died in Israeli bombardment.
The hostages were held in a tunnel about 80 centimeters wide in which they could neither stand nor move freely, according to the statement from the relatives’ forum. They also had no access to showers or toilets. The abductees were “deprived of the most basic human needs.” “Some of them had untreated injuries from the time of their abduction, and signs of being tied up were found on one of them.”
Israeli TV station Channel 13 reported that the six hostages were together when they were found dead. Forensic examinations showed that they “wanted to defend themselves and protect each other” before they were killed. They had fought with their kidnappers before they were shot.
“The evidence shows that they fought for their survival right to the end before all six were brutally murdered,” it said.
“These revelations provide undeniable evidence that the hostages still held in Gaza are in grave danger,” the forum wrote, calling for an immediate deal with Hamas for their release.
In total, terrorists from Hamas and other groups kidnapped more than 250 people from Israel into the sealed-off coastal area during the massacre on October 7. It is not known how many of the 101 hostages remaining in Gaza are still alive.
Since the war began, the number of Palestinians killed in the coastal strip has risen to more than 40,988, according to Gaza authorities. The number does not distinguish between fighters and civilians and is difficult to verify.
