Four more Israeli hostages die in Hamas custody

Four Israelis taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 have been confirmed dead, the Israeli army announced Monday.

The families of Nadav Popplewell, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Cooper and Haim Perry have been informed that they “are no longer alive” and that Hamas has their remains, the Israeli military said.

The deaths were announced as an Israeli ceasefire proposal backed by President Joe Biden was contested by right-wing ministers in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, who are opposed to any agreement with Hamas.

The Israeli military said its decision to “declare the four hostages dead was based on intelligence.”

“We believe that the four of them were killed together in the Khan Yunis area several months ago while being detained by Hamas terrorists,” IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said.

Hagari did not specify how they died. But in March, Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Ubaida announced that Perry, Metzger and Cooper were among seven hostages killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza.

Last month, Popplewell was seen in a propaganda video released by Hamas, Israeli media reported.

Popplewell, aged 51, had been taken captive with his mother from their home on Kibbutz Nirim.

“Kibbutz Nirim announces with deep sadness the death of Nadav Popplewell, kidnapped while he was a captive of Hamas in Gaza,” the community said in a statement released Monday.

Popplewell’s elderly mother, Hanna Perry, was among a group of more than a dozen Israeli hostages who were released on November 24 as part of a temporary ceasefire agreement.

Metzger, aged 83 and living on Kibbutz Nir Oz, was last seen alive in December in a video released by Hamas.

At the time, his son Guy told NBC News that he was “really worried” about his father and that he seemed “very, very tired.”

“He looks very sick, and so do his friends,” the younger Metzger said. “We are really worried about their condition. »

Some 125 Israeli hostages remain in captivity nearly eight months after being kidnapped in a deadly surprise attack by Hamas that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.