Israel believes that more than a third of the hostages taken to the Gaza Strip on October 7 are dead, eight months after they were first kidnapped.
Of the 251 who were kidnapped by Hamas after its brutal incursion into Israel, some of whom were already dead when they were returned to Palestinian territory to be used as bargaining chips, 120 people remain detained in Gaza, and 41 hostages are believed to have died in the hands of Hamas.
Although this number includes the Of the 25 people who died in the October 7 attacks and whose bodies were taken to the Gaza Strip to be used as bargaining chips, officials said, the bodies showed signs of execution.
The IDF said late Monday that the bodies of Haim Perry, 80, Yoram Metzger, 80, Amiram Cooper, 84, and British national Nadav Popplewell, 51, were killed after they were taken to Gaza on October 7.
The military added that the four men were killed somewhere in Khan Younis, in the central Gaza Strip, several months ago.
There are still 79 hostages who could be alive in Gaza, including 72 Israelis, some of whom have more than one nationality, six Thais and one Nepali.
Hundreds of people demonstrate against the Israeli government, demanding that Israel stop its attacks on Gaza and return Israeli prisoners.
A protester poses by the Statue of Liberty as supporters and relatives of the hostages, who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas,
Smoke rises following Israeli attacks during an Israeli military operation, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Kfir Bibas, who was nine months old when he was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with his mother Shiri, 32, and brother Ariel, then four years old, is the youngest hostage still believed to be in captivity. .
In January, his relatives held a first birthday party for the red-haired boy while he was away.
But Hamas has said all three were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza. Israel has yet to confirm their deaths or whether they are still alive.
The children’s father, Yarden, is still being held hostage. No other children are known to be held hostage in Gaza.
Thirteen women, aged between 18 and 39, remain held by Palestinian militants.
They include five women, aged between 18 and 19, who were carrying out their military service when they were kidnapped.
Al Shifa Hospital was damaged after Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital and its surroundings following a two-week operation.
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.
As soldiers, they were excluded from the November prisoner exchange.
On Wednesday, the Hostage and Missing Families Forum released a three-minute video of the five women being kidnapped on October 7.
There are also 64 men still detained in the Gaza Strip, three of whom are over seventy years old and two over eighty.
Others are young men who were serving in the military at the time of the Oct. 7 attack.
Several of the male hostages were taken along with family members, including some with their children, who were later released during the November truce.
A total of 112 prisoners were released alive during a week-long truce in November, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Israel has also repatriated the bodies of 19 dead hostages, including three hostages killed by Israeli forces who mistook them for Hamas fighters.