Israel confirms the death of five hostages held by Hamas in Gaza

Five people who were held captive in the Gaza Strip as hostages of the Islamist terrorist group Hamas died, the Israeli Army confirmed this Friday, while Israeli authorities estimate that there are still 132 hostages alive in the Strip.

Israeli forces “notified the families of hostages Eliyahu Margalit, Mia Goren, Ronen Engel and Aryeh Zalmanovich of their deaths,” Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a video conference.

“A committee of experts from the Ministry of Health, together with the National Center for Forensic Medicine, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Ministry of Religious Services, determined his death based on the findings collected and established intelligence,” he added.

In addition, soldiers deployed in Gaza were able to recover the lifeless body of Ofir Tzarfati, 27, “for burial in Israel,” Hagari added.

The Army did not provide details on how these five deaths occurred in Gaza.

According to Hagari, Hamas is still holding 136 hostages — four of whom lost their lives. Among them are 125 Israelis and 11 foreigners: 8 from Thailand, one from Nepal, one from Tanzania and one with French-Mexican citizenship. Among those 136 people, there are 17 women and 2 children.

The two children are brothers Ariel and Kfir Bibas, aged 4 years and 10 months, respectively, who were kidnapped along with their mother, Shiri Silverman Bibas – of Argentine origin – and their father, Yarden Bibas.

Israel and Hamas this Friday broke a truce that was negotiated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, which included the release of hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and which marked a seven-day pause in the war that broke out. on October 7.

During the truce, 105 hostages were released: 81 Israelis and 24 foreigners (23 Thais and one Filipino).

They are joined by four other hostages who were previously released: an Israeli-American mother and daughter and two elderly Israeli women.

On the other hand, Israel has recovered the bodies of three hostages who perished in Gaza: that of Tzarfati, announced this Friday, as well as those of a soldier and an elderly woman.

Thus, there are 132 live hostages and four dead in Gaza, a total of 110 released alive, and three who were rescued after dying.

Hagari said Friday that for the truce to continue, Hamas had to release the Bibas family's mother and two children, but the Islamist group refused.

For its part, Hamas alleges that these three people were killed by Israeli bombings and that it offered Israel to hand over their bodies, something that the Jewish State rejected.

The war began after an attack by the armed wing of Hamas that included the launching of thousands of rockets towards Israel and the infiltration of some 3,000 terrorists who massacred some 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 240, in Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip. Loop.