Israel says hostage Itai Svirsky’s body has been recovered from Gaza

The Israeli military says it has recovered the bodies of Israeli hostages seized by Hamas in the Gaza Strip in a joint operation with the Shin Bet security service.

Itai Svirsky, 38, who was abducted from Kibbutz Beeri during Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, was “killed in captivity by his captors,” a statement said.

Hamas said in January that Svirsky and another hostage, Yossi Sharabi, 53, were killed by an Israeli airstrike.

Earlier, the military said an investigation concluded that the most plausible explanation for the deaths of six other hostages who died in a Gaza tunnel in August was that they had been shot down by “Hamas” in time for an Israeli airstrike.

Troops recovered the bodies of Yagev Buchstab, 35, Alexander Dansig, 76, Avraham Munder, 79, Yoram Metzger, 80, Chaim Perry, 79, and 51-year-old British-Israeli dual citizen Nadav Papelwell. Six Hamas fighters in the southern Khan Yunis area.

The military said the hostage deaths were “highly likely” to be linked to a February strike on a nearby underground site that targeted Hamas commanders.

It added that pathologists found gunshot marks on the bodies of the hostages, but no gunshot wounds on the bodies of the fighters.

The military said it was “unable to determine with absolute certainty the exact cause of death of the hostages or the exact time of the shooting” due to the extended time that had passed.

“According to the most plausible scenario, the terrorists shot the hostages during the strike,” it said. “However, it is possible that other terrorists shot hostages in the post-mortem; It is possible that the hostages were killed before the strike in the area.

An Israeli military official told reporters that the military believed the six Hamas fighters were “killed by secondary effects of our attack,” such as lack of oxygen.

The military stressed that there was “no information” that the hostages were in the target’s or its surrounding underground site at the time of the strike.

“Had such information been available, the strike would not have been carried out,” it said, adding that it was preceded by the necessary planning and approval process.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

On 7 October 2023, Buchstab, Danzig, Munder, Metzger, Peri and Papelwell were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz and Kibbutz Nirim.

About 1,200 people were killed by Hamas-led gunmen that day, while 251 were returned to Gaza as hostages.

The US, Egypt and Qatar have spent months negotiating a deal to release the remaining 96 hostages, 35 of whom are presumed dead, in return for a cease-fire in Gaza.

But talks have stalled, with Hamas and Israel blaming each other for the crisis.

The Forum for Hostages and Families of the Missing said the findings of the military investigation “serve as further evidence that the lives of hostages are in constant, daily danger”.

“Time is of the essence – many hostages are still alive and enduring impossible conditions of abuse, starvation and isolation,” it warned.

The forum called on the US and other mediators to “do everything necessary to reach an agreement on the return of the hostages”.

It separately welcomed the return of Itai Swirsky’s body for burial in Israel, saying it would “provide decisive closure for his family”.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement Wednesday that “pressure is mounting on the monstrous organization known as Hamas.”

“This time there’s a chance we’ll actually be able to advance the hostage deal.”

More than 44,500 people have died in Gaza since Israel began military operations in response to the 7 October attacks, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

On Wednesday evening, at least 20 people were killed in an Israeli-designated “humanitarian area” in an Israeli-designated “humanitarian area” in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Yunis, according to medics and the Hamas-run Civil Defense Agency.

A tent camp of displaced families was bombed and five children were among the dead, said civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal.

The Israeli military said its aircraft targeted “senior Hamas terrorists” in the area.

Another 10 people were killed when Israeli strikes hit three houses in Gaza City, northern Gaza, according to Mr Bassal.

Earlier, an Israeli attack on a refugee camp in the central Gaza city of Nusirat killed five people, doctors said. Local media reported that four of the dead were children, who were queuing outside the bakery on strike.

According to the Associated Press, the Israeli military said it hit a “terrorist target” in Nusirat, without providing any details.