The IDF confirmed on Monday that two hostages, Alexander Dancyg and Yagev Buchshtab, are dead and that they were probably mistakenly killed by IDF forces during battles in Khan Yunis some months ago.
Dancyg, 76, was kidnapped on October 7 from Nir-Oz, and Buchshtab, 35, was seized from Nirim.
The IDF operated in Khan Yunis from December 1 until April 7.
On March 10, Hamas issued an update that the two hostages had been killed.
However, Hamas has engaged in a variety of psychological warfare. While there are cases where the IDF has mistakenly killed hostages, there are dozens of cases where Hamas killed hostages they were detaining and then later tried to blame the IDF.
Accordingly, the IDF had not accepted Hamas’s March announcement until now.
However, the IDF recently acquired new unspecified intelligence, which combined with Hamas’s announcement and other information to confirm that, in fact, the two hostages are dead.
Despite the announcement coming on the same day that the IDF is calling for an evacuation of Palestinians from Khan Yunis, seemingly in preparation for a reinvasion of the area, the military said there was no connection between the two events.
IDF did not disclose circumstances of hostages’ deaths
The IDF did not disclose the exact circumstances of the hostages’ deaths or that it was completely certain that the IDF had caused it, but said that based on new intelligence, and, including the fact that the IDF was operating in certain areas of Khan Yunis at the time in question, it is likely that they were mistakenly killed by Israeli forces.
Generally speaking, the IDF has a standing order not to attack areas where there is intelligence that hostages might be being kept nearby.
To that extent, the IDF has called off dozens, if not more, operations against Hamas over the course of the war to avoid harming hostages.
However, there have been multiple cases where the IDF mistakenly killed hostages.
The decision to confirm their deaths was made in consultation with the IDF rabbinate, the Health Ministry, and forensics officials.
Dancyg, born in Poland, was a historian and a Holocaust educator.
Buchshtab and his wife, Rimon Kirsht Kirsht Buchshtab, 36, who worked in alternative medicine, were taken hostage from Kibbutz Nirim on October 7.
Buchshtab’s wife was released from captivity on November 28 as part of a hostage-prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
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