
In a swift and covert operation early Tuesday morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) successfully recovered the remains of six Israeli hostages from the southern Gaza Strip. These hostages had been abducted nearly ten months ago by Hamas terrorists, and their deaths had been feared for months.
This recent mission, which marks the fastest recovery operation to date during the ongoing conflict, reflects the IDF’s evolving capabilities in gathering and acting on intelligence, and efficiently maneuvering within Hamas’s intricate tunnel network.
The six Israelis whose bodies were retrieved have been identified as Alex Dancyg, 75; Yagev Buchshtav, 35; Chaim Peri, 79; Yoram Metzger, 80; Nadav Popplewell, 51; and Avraham Munder, 78. The IDF had previously confirmed the deaths of Dancyg, Buchshtav, Peri, Metzger, and Popplewell, while Munder was presumed alive, albeit with significant concerns for his health and safety.
Sources within the IDF highlighted that this rapid recovery underscores the military’s ability to regain control over areas from which it had previously retreated. The IDF had conducted extensive operations in Khan Younis for several months earlier in the year before withdrawing from the area.
The recovery was part of an ongoing, broader offensive by the IDF’s 98th Division in Khan Younis, which was intensified over the past week. The division swiftly shifted its focus to a different sector of the city, securing operational control over a neighborhood believed to house the hostages’ bodies.
While the IDF had gathered reasonably accurate intelligence regarding the tunnel where the hostages were being held, pinpointing the exact location required further investigation. Combat engineers were dispatched to explore four different sites within the neighborhood.
Within less than 24 hours, troops identified a 10-meter-deep shaft that led to an extensive tunnel system. According to IDF officials, one team observed telltale signs that indicated the likely location of the hostages’ remains.
The recovery of the bodies took place during the night between Monday and Tuesday, marking the most expedient operation of its kind since the conflict began. Previous efforts to recover hostages’ bodies have typically spanned several days.
Hamas had gone to great lengths to conceal the hostages’ remains, placing them in a hidden underground passage obscured behind a false wall within the tunnel system. During their search, IDF troops discovered a loose panel in the tunnel wall, which led them to the concealed passage where the bodies were located.
Combat engineers from the elite Yahalom unit, alongside Shin Bet security agency operatives, managed to breach reinforced doors and other obstacles within the tunnel. In addition to the bodies, they uncovered weapons, explosive devices, and other materials belonging to Hamas operatives.
The operation was executed following intense clashes in the vicinity, during which IDF forces conducted building searches, eliminating several gunmen and quickly establishing control over the area. Some of the terrorists who had been guarding the tunnel managed to escape, while others were killed in combat with IDF troops, according to military sources.
Several dead Hamas operatives, likely tasked with guarding the tunnel, were found within a few hundred meters of the shaft where the hostages’ bodies were hidden. Their weapons were also recovered, and their remains were transported to Israel along with the hostages’ bodies for identification.
All six hostages had initially been captured alive during the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023, only to be killed over the course of the ensuing ten months of conflict.
Dancyg and Buchshtav were confirmed dead by the IDF in late July, while the deaths of Peri, Metzger, and Popplewell were confirmed in early June. The five were believed to have been killed in Khan Younis in early 2024, although the exact causes of their deaths remain undetermined.
Munder, who had not previously been confirmed dead, was listed among the presumed living hostages until the recovery of his body on Tuesday. The IDF will now investigate the circumstances of their deaths, including whether any of the six were killed by Israeli military actions during previous operations in Khan Younis.
Currently, it is believed that 105 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza. This figure includes the bodies of 34 hostages whose deaths have been confirmed by the IDF. Additionally, Hamas is still holding two Israeli civilians who entered Gaza in 2014 and 2015, as well as the remains of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
{Matzav.com Israel}
When will the UN condemn Israel for retrieving it’s citizens captured on 7 October? How dare they take precious Gazan holdings out? Why does the IDF think they have the right to handle and take these dead captives? I can’t wait till ICJ convenes and issues their kangaroo court ruling against Israel for this.