Hamas Executing Hostages? Autopsies Of 6 Bodies Recovered From Gaza Reveal Bullets

On Tuesday the Israeli military (IDF) announced that it had recovered six deceased hostages in a hidden tunnel network under the Gaza Strip. 

The grim development has served to underscore that time is running out on getting the hostages back. A total of 105 hostages remain unaccounted for since they were brutally kidnapped on Oct.7, but many could already be dead, Israeli officials suspect. New controversy has emerged over the precise circumstances surrounding the deaths of the latest six recovered.

Most were elderly, and may have died significantly prior to the recovery operation. They are: Haim Peri, 80; Yoram Metzger, 80; and Alexander Dancyg, 75; Nadav Popplewell, 51, and Yagev Buchshtab, 35, and Avraham Munder, 79. They had all been residents of border communities which had been raided by Hamas.

The New York Times on Friday details the fresh controversy as follows:

A group representing relatives of hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel said on Thursday that autopsies showed “bullets were found in the bodies” of six captives Israeli troops recovered from an underground tunnel in southern Gaza, raising questions about how they died.

The group, the Hostages Family Forum, said that the autopsy results indicated that the six hostages “were taken alive and executed in the tunnels of Hamas.”

But an Israeli military spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter to families, said on Thursday that the autopsies showed “marks suggestive of gunshots” on the bodies and stressed it was too soon to determine whether gunshot wounds were the cause of death.

This has raised the question or even likelihood that they were all executed as hostage talks dragged on, and as the IDF has expanded its military operations in the Strip.

However, adding to the mystery is that four other bodies were found in the tunnels near the bodies – but which did not have bullets in them – and the military suspects these to be Hamas members.

The Times report continues: 

How and when the hostages died has been a matter of contention. Hamas has blamed the deaths on Israeli airstrikes, and the Israeli military has acknowledged some of them likely died while Israel was carrying out military operations in the area where they were found. Some Israel news outlets reported the hostages may have suffocated when the tunnel filled with toxins after an airstrike.

And there has also been speculation that their deaths may be related to large-scale Israeli airstrikes above the tunnels:

On Tuesday, Adm. Hagari was asked again about how the hostages died at a news conference. He repeated what he had said in June — that the “hostages were killed while our troops were operating in Khan Younis” — and added that a forensic examination would reveal more.

Israeli news media reported on Tuesday that initial assessments suggested that five of the six hostages had died from suffocation when an Israeli airstrike hit another tunnel, causing the one they were in to fill with carbon dioxide. The Times could not confirm those reports.

Or it could be that as IDF troops were close in on the location of the militants and hostages, the Hamas members decided to conduct a summary execution on the spot.

Some within Israeli media have speculated on the possibility of a ‘friendly fire’ accident by the IDF, which wouldn’t be the first time. At this point, an official autopsy report on the six has not been made public, and it’s uncertain if the official findings when they are produced will ultimately quell the controversy.