The Israeli army on Friday confirmed the deaths of five hostages held in Gaza, saying their families had been informed, and the body of one of them returned to Israel.
“In recent days, the IDF [military] and Israel police notified the families of the hostages Eliyahu Margalit, Maya Goren, Ronen Engel and Arye Zalmanovitz about their deaths,” army spokesman Daniel Hagari said.
He also said troops had brought back the body of a fifth person whom he identified as Ofir Tsarfati.
Separately the army said Tsarfati’s body had been “located in recent days” in Gaza by troops and the Shin Bet internal security service and brought to Israel for burial, with the family informed of his death on Wednesday.
Tsarfati was kidnapped from a rave party near the Gaza Strip during the Hamas attacks on October 7, when militants stormed into southern Israel killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and snatching some 240 hostages.
Hagari said Gaza militants were still holding “136 hostages, among them 17 women and children”.
He also spoke about the Bibas family, saying a claim made earlier this week by Hamas’ armed wing about the mother Shiri and her two young sons – 10-month-old Kfir and Ariel, four – “has not been verified”.
The militants said the three had been killed in an Israeli bombing before the now-lapsed truce began on November 24, with the army saying it was looking into the claim.
Israel army says investigating Hamas report of baby hostage death
Israel army says investigating Hamas report of baby hostage death
“The Bibas family, the mother and the children, were supposed to return to Israel and Hamas chose not to do that,” Hagari said, referring to the week-long hostage swap deal in which 80 Israeli hostages were freed, mostly women and children.
“The information that Hamas publishes has not been verified by us so we are not addressing this issue,” he said.
Since October 7, Israel has been waging a massive military campaign aimed at destroying Hamas and returning the hostages.
The territory’s Hamas-run government says the offensive has killed more than 15,000 people, two-thirds of them women and children.