One of the fears of the movement that is pressing in Israel to bring back the hundred hostages remaining in Gaza through a ceasefire agreement is that it will arrive 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 considered alive. The military found them in the early hours of this Tuesday, in the midst of express negotiation of 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 confrontations with its guards, who had apparently fled. Never, in 10 months of war, had Israel rescued so many hostage bodies at the same time.
They are Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Jaim Perry. There are six civilians (four of them aged between 75 and 80) who lived in two kibbutzs near Gaza - Nir Oz and Nirim - and found themselves at dawn on October 7 with dozens of militiamen suddenly invading their houses and streets.
After this 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 achieved very specific rescues (two, with dual Argentine-Israeli nationality, in February; or four, with massive bombings that killed some 270 Gazans). He has also been finding bodies of other hostages or confirming their deaths, within the framework of the invasion.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main lobby in favor of their negotiated return, has applauded that the families can finally “give eternal rest to those murdered”, but has urged the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu to “do everything possible” in their hand to finalize 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 a moral and ethical obligation for everyone to return home alive or “receive a dignified burial.”
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Matti Dancyg, son of one of the six rescued, Alexander Dancyg, charged this morning against Netanyahu on Israeli public radio. He preferred to sacrifice the hostages to keep his government standing. People will judge him, and he will pay dearly,” he said.
Although 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 alive,” concluded Matti Dancyg.
The authorities did consider Avraham Munder, 79, alive. The Forum has interpreted the discovery of his body as “further proof of the urgency of sealing and implementing the agreement” presented by the mediators (United States, Egypt and Qatar) last week and which will continue to be negotiated this week in Cairo. “Abraham was captured alive and endured agonizing captivity alongside his loved ones. He should have returned home alive to his family. “The murder of him in captivity underlines the delay in the implementation of the agreement, which could have saved his life and those of other hostages,” the forum noted.
Netanyahu has issued a statement praising the soldiers and noting in the end that he “will continue to make every effort to bring back all the hostages.” He comes reinforced from a meeting the day before with the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, in Tel Aviv. After interviewing for almost three hours, Blinken assured that the Israeli leader supports the “consensus proposal” on a ceasefire in Gaza in phases that the mediators developed last week. The ball, he added, is now in the court of Hamas, which he urged to “do the same” without delay.
The Islamist movement has already said that it rejects the text, which it considers a hastily woven suit by Washington tailored to its great ally in the Middle East. One of its leaders, Osama Hamdan, assured late in the day that the negotiators do not know “the exact details of the new American proposal,” but regretted the “backsliding regarding the issues included in the document” presented by the US president, Joe Biden and supported by the United Nations Security Council. Hamas, in fact, did not attend last week's negotiation in the Qatari capital, in protest at the changes compared to what was agreed in July.
