Israel: Over a fifth of hostages are dead

TEL AVIV – Israel has called securing the freedom of the hostages kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip a key goal in its war against Hamas, so many in the country were shocked when it emerged that at least one-fifth of the captives were already dead.

The news is likely to worsen a furor in Israel, where a debate over the government’s course of action in Gaza regarding the hostages has become divisive.

Israeli intelligence officers have concluded that at least 30 of the remaining 136 hostages captured by Hamas and its allies on Oct. 7 have died since the start of the war, according to a confidential assessment reviewed by The New York Times.

The Israeli government released a statement late on Tuesday saying that only 31 had been confirmed dead; the discrepancy between the two numbers could not be immediately reconciled.

“We have informed 31 families that their captured loved ones are no longer among the living and that we have pronounced them dead,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the military’s chief spokesperson, said after the Times published a report about the previously undisclosed hostage deaths.

In January, some family members stormed a meeting at Israel’s parliament to demand that lawmakers take greater action to secure the captives’ release. That protest and similar demonstrations in recent months have helped expose a societal rift between those who support making a deal with Hamas to secure the captives’ release and those who seek the militant group’s total destruction.

In a related development, Hamas says it has given its response for a new ceasefire in Gaza, according to a report on BBC.

The details of the deal – set out by Israel, the US, Qatar and Egypt – have not been released.

It was earlier reported to include a six-week truce, when more Israeli hostages would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.

Israel and the US have both said they are reviewing Hamas’ response.