Jerusalem, Dec 13 (EFE).- Israel confirmed on Wednesday that 19 hostages lost their lives in Hamas captivity, with 116 remaining in Gaza with the Palestinian militant groups.
According to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, those kidnapped by Hamas include 124 Israelis, eight Thais, a Nepali, a Tanzanian, and a French-Mexican.
The hostages still held in the Palestinian enclave since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 are 116 men and 19 women, including two minors and 10 over the age of 75, a PMO release said.
The hostages who remain in the Palestinian enclave since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 are 116 men and 19 women, including two minors and 10 over 75, according to a statement from the PMO.
The two children, Ariel (4) and Kfir Bibas (10 months old), along with their parents, Shiri Silverman Bibas of Argentine origin and her husband Yarden Bibas, are among the hostages.
Hamas claimed in a statement that the Bibas brothers and their mother had been killed in Israeli bombings, but Israel has not been able to verify the claim.
Up to now, 110 kidnapped people have been released, including 86 Israelis and 24 of other nationalities. Five of them are deceased, and their bodies were recovered by Israeli forces and identified, the latest two on Tuesday.
As of now, 110 kidnapped people have been released, of them 86 Israelis and 24 of other nationalities.
Bodies of the five deceased have been identified and recovered by Israeli forces, the last two on Tuesday.
Israel announced on Tuesday that it had recovered the bodies of two kidnapped people in a special forces operation in the strip, during which two soldiers were killed, and several were wounded.
The bodies of Eden Zakaria (27) and Ziv Dado (36), a senior sergeant, were brought to Israel and identified by the police and the Israeli Institute of Forensic Medicine.
Most of the hostages were freed during a week-long truce that began on Nov. 24, during which Hamas handed over 105 captives – 81 Israelis and 24 foreigners (23 Thais and one Filipino).
However, Hamas had earlier released four female hostages – an Israeli-American mother and daughter and two elderly Israeli women. The Israeli Army rescued a captive female soldier when the ground incursion began.
Five other people, four Israelis, and one Eritrean are missing, with no evidence that they are among the hostages.
The Islamist group warned on Sunday that none of the hostages could be released unless Israel agreed to exchange them for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
Qatar, Egypt, and the United States mediated a truce that lasted seven days, from Nov. 24 to 30, which included the release of 105 Hamas hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinians from Israeli jails.
The Hamas attack on Oct. 7 left 1,200 dead in Israel and nearly 240 kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
Israel declared a state of war, launching a military operation by air, land, and sea in the Palestinian enclave.
The Gaza health ministry, controlled by Hamas, says 18,412 have been killed and 50,100 injured in the Israeli military operation, with approximately 1.8 million displaced among its 2.3 million inhabitants, amid a severe humanitarian crisis. EFE
lar/ssk
