One of the fears of the movement pushing in Israel to bring back the hundred hostages remaining in Gaza through a ceasefire agreement is that it will come so late that their loved ones end up returning in coffins. This is exactly what has happened, after the Israeli army recovered the bodies of six civilians that Hamas had kidnapped alive in its attack on October 7, 2023. One of them was still believed to be alive. The military found them in the early hours of Tuesday, in the middle of express negotiations for a pact to end the invasion, in a tunnel in the Khan Yunis area, according to the army. It was an operation based “on precise intelligence information” and without clashes with their guardians, who had apparently fled. Never, in 10 months of war, had Israel rescued so many hostage bodies at once.
They are Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Chaim Perry. They are six civilians (four of them aged between 75 and 80) who lived in two kibbutzim near Gaza – Nir Oz and Nirim – and found themselves at dawn on 7 October with dozens of militants suddenly invading their homes and streets.
REUTERS
After Tuesday’s rescue, 109 hostages remain in Gaza, at least a third dead. Probably half, it is estimated. The attackers captured more than 250, but a hundred were exchanged in the last week of November (in the only respite in 10 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 only managed to rescue people alive very occasionally (two, with dual Argentine-Israeli nationality, in February; or four, with massive bombings that killed some 270 Gazans). It has also been finding the bodies of other hostages or confirming their deaths, in the context of the invasion.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main lobbyIn favour of their negotiated return, he welcomed the fact that the families can finally “give eternal rest to those killed”, but he urged the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu to “do everything in its power to finalise 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 the moral and ethical obligation” to ensure that all of them return home alive or “receive a dignified burial”.
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Matti Dancyg, son of one of the six rescued, Alexander Dancyg, attacked Netanyahu this morning on Israeli public radio. “He preferred to sacrifice the hostages to keep his government standing. The people will judge him, and he will pay dearly for it,” he said.
Even though there was no body to say goodbye to, Dancyg had begun mourning, because the military authorities had already confirmed the death of his father. 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 get those who are still alive out,” Matti Dancyg concluded.
Urgency
The authorities believed Avraham Munder, 79, was alive. The Forum interpreted the discovery of his body as “further proof 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 an agonising captivity with his loved ones. He should have returned home alive to his family. His murder in captivity underlines the delay in implementing the agreement, which could have saved his life and that of other hostages,” the forum said.
Netanyahu issued a statement praising the soldiers and saying at the end that he “will continue to make every effort to bring back all the hostages.” He has been strengthened by a meeting the day before with the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, in Tel Aviv. After meeting for almost three hours, Blinken assured that the Israeli leader supports the “consensus proposal” on a phased ceasefire in Gaza that the mediators worked out last week. The ball, he added, is now in Hamas’s court, which he urged to “do the same” without delay.
The Islamist movement has already said it rejects the text, which it considers a hastily tailored suit by Washington for its great ally in the Middle East. One of its leaders, Osama Hamdan, said late in the day that the negotiators do not know “the exact details of the new American proposal”, but regretted the “backtracking on the issues included in the document” presented by US President Joe Biden and supported by the United Nations Security Council. Hamas, in fact, did not attend last week’s negotiations in the Qatari capital, in protest against the changes compared to what was agreed in July.
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