OAN’s Elizabeth Volberding
3:27 PM – Tuesday, February 6, 2024
Israel’s chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced that 31 of the remaining Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza have been declared dead.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israel’s chief military spokesperson, declared the deaths of 31 Israeli hostages still being held captive in Gaza, out of the confirmed 136 hostages that are still being held.
“We have informed 31 families that their captured loved ones are no longer among the living and that we have pronounced them dead,” Hagari declared.
In addition, the Hostage and Missing Families Forum stated that they were informed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that 31 of the hostages have died.
Previously, the IDF declared that it has verified the deaths of 29 out of the 132 hostages that were still held on October 7th, 2023, during the tragic Hamas terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of at least 1,200 people and the abduction of 253 hostages. However, that number has increased since.
In a brief ceasefire agreement, Hamas released 105 hostages in late November 2023.
Apart from the 132 hostages that are still being held, Hamas also has four more hostages that it is holding onto: the bodies of two fallen Israeli soldiers who were held since 2014 and two Israeli civilians who entered the Gaza Strip on their own initiative in 2014 and 2015.
As previously reported by the New York Times, of the 136 hostages still alive, it stated that at least 32 have died, the majority of them during the October 7th tragedy. However, Hostage and Missing Families Forum stated that the number was actually 31.
“According to the official data we have, there are 31 victims,” the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said in a statement. “Before the article was released, an official message was given to all the families of the abductees by the liaison officers that there is no change in the situation assessment.”
The NYT report went on to say that the IDF was currently investigating unverified reports that suggested 20 more hostages had been killed as well. However, these claims are still being examined.
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