Israel says bullets found in hostages’ bodies recovered from Gaza

JERUSALEM – The Israeli military said on Aug 22 that bullets had been found in the bodies of six hostages retrieved from a Gaza tunnel earlier this week, indicating that they had been shot.

The bodies of Mr Yagev Buchshtab, Mr Alexander Dancyg, Mr Yoram Metzger, Mr Nadav Popplewell, Mr Chaim Perry and Mr Avraham Munder were found on the night of Aug 19 in the southern Gaza Strip, the military said the following day, though it was not clear what had caused their deaths in captivity.

A military spokesman told AFP on Aug 22 that examinations were carried out and “bullets were found in the bodies of the six hostages” seized from the site raided by Israeli forces in the Khan Younis area.

“The investigation into the circumstances of their deaths continues,” the spokesman added.

The six hostages

were among 251 people seized by Palestinian militants during Hamas’ Oct 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.

Of the 251 people, 105 remain in the Palestinian territory, including 34 the military says are dead.

Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Aug 20 that the six “were killed while our forces were operating in Khan Younis”.

Relatives of numerous hostages who died in captivity have said the military had informed them that their loved ones may have been killed by Israeli operations and bombardment in Gaza.

The Oct 7 attack

resulted in the deaths of 1,199 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has

killed at least 40,265 people

in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s Health Ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.

The United Nations rights office says most of the dead are women and children. AFP