Signs of bullets and gunshot wounds were found on the bodies of hostages recovered from the Gaza Strip earlier this week, the IDF confirmed on Thursday.
Preliminary findings were received from Israel’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine, which performed autopsies and examined the bodies of the six hostages, the military stated.
According to the IDF report, marks indicating bullets and wounds were found on the bodies of the six hostages. Additionally, four bodies found next to the hostages in the Gaza Strip were assumed to be terrorists, and when examined, no signs of gunshots were observed.
The IDF noted that these are preliminary findings, and it is not possible to determine the circumstances of the hostages’ deaths definitively. The investigation is ongoing, and findings will be presented to families and the public, the IDF confirmed.
The bodies of six men taken captive on October 7, all of whom were killed in captivity, were brought back to Israel to be laid to rest.
The six hostages returned to Israel were Nadav Popplewell, Yagev Buchshtab, Yoram Metzger, Haim Peri, Alexander Dancyg, and Avraham Munder, all found in the Khan Yunis area in Gaza.
Family members speak of fears of possible execution of hostages
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum commented on the development, stating, “The presence of bullets in the bodies of the late hostages … is further proof of the cruelty of the terrorists who held the 109 hostages for already 321 days.”
“Every minute that the deal is not yet completed, another hostage may meet their death, and after ten months of war in which the hostages suffer and die, it is known to everyone that the return of all the hostages is possible only through a deal.”
Regarding the retrieval of the hostages’ bodies, the Forum said, “The rescue of the six bodies is not a picture of victory, it is a picture of the complete failure of the country’s leadership, when six hostages who were supposed to return alive returned in a coffin.”
Esther Buchshtab, the mother of recovered hostage Yagev Buchshtab, said Thursday that the family members found out that he had been shot dead in captivity, Ynet reported.
Additionally, the same report noted that following the IDF operation that recovered the hostages, it was learned that the late Yoram Metzger was also shot to death.
The National Institute of Forensic Medicine, Israel Police, and the IDF Manpower Directorate’s Hostage Team conducted an identification procedure of the bodies and notified their families and communities.
Gadi Zaig and Yael Halfon contributed to this report.
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