"Killed on October 7" or Should Have Been

Israel Picking off the last of its Hostages Under Cynical Code? 

May 25, 2024

As the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) pushes ahead in Gaza, notably in the Jabaila refugee camp in the north, they've been finding the bodies of their long-sought hostages, sadly deceased. Most of these were thought to be alive until these discoveries, but now it's declared they died soon after their kidnapping in the Hamas incursion of October 7, following on injuries sustained then. However, some evidence suggests the IDF is killing these people as they go, using the "October 7" stamp as code - a code chosen by those who feel the hostages should have all been killed then. 

As widely noted, it seems the IDF re-activated and expanded their "Hannibal" directive that day, to prevent the capture of both military and civilians, at risk to their lives. The IDF successfully prevented many cars full of hostages from returning to Gaza by blasting them with Apache helicopters, and preventing houses full of civilians being taken by flattening the houses around them with tank shells. The 250 or so that were taken to Gaza always included many injured and some taken as corpses. Israel's violence since then - besides its unprecedented, genocidal harm to Gaza's original population - has reportedly killed dozens of these, perhaps over 100, while rescuing just 2 or maybe 3 of them. This has left perhaps just a handful of "pawns" still alive to plow over if needed in the course of - hopefully - ethnically cleansing Gaza and "making it Jewish again." (see my previous post: https://libyancivilwar.blogspot.com/2024/05/pawns-to-plow-over-how-netanyahu-is.html)

The war purists are interested in flattening Gaza, likely including places the hostages are. To them, the hostages were always a "political" headache. 105 of them, largely children and women, were released with a deal in November. That looked good anyway, but it took a ceasefire, slowing their momentum, and releasing hundreds of Palestinians they would have preferred to keep behind bars. They didn't want to repeat this, and they never have. No deals are needed for the dead. Remains can be recovered in whatever state at any time, or be left buried in the rubble if necessary. 

But just with the dozen or so widely known cases of hostages killed by "friendly fire," they have enough of that blood on their hands. If they were to continue with these killings, they would want some basic formula that could explain it away. They might seek to sow a certain mythical narrative, as I've seen it put by an adherent, "the hostages are all dead. Nuke Gaza." And conveniently, it's starting to seem like they were all dead from the start. 

Some appeals to this picture: The majority were killed by Hamas, and not executed in Gaza out of blind hate (illogically killing their hard-won leverage), but more plausibly in the chaos of October 7. IDF violence in Gaza since October 7 is blameless in this scenario, although some "Hannibalism" on that day could play in. And consider that Hamas lied, or whatever, letting people believe those hostages remained alive and worth bargaining over. But they never were, in this narrative. Maybe the 105 including children were worth the hassle of returning alive, but otherwise, they presented nothing but a complication. From the start, in this narrative, the complication was conveniently small and fit to ignore. And so hostage safety was largely ignored in favor of the same violence that keeps picking them off, and evetually the prophecy becomes self-fulfilling. In the end, it may be that all the hostages still held managed to "die back on October 7." They were not just fated to die at the outset of this genocidal violence but, as they'll say over and over, they were actually dead from the start. Wash hands, shake dry. 

I don't have anything close to proof that this is occurring, but some reason to propose it is related below. 

Grim Discoveries in Jabaila

Just yesterday, May 24, the bodies of hostages Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez (Hernández-Radoux) were found in the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza. All 3 were previously listed among the presumably living hostages still held by Hamas. But all 3 are now said to be killed back on October 7, with the bodies kidnapped to Gaza for later exchange. Just their decaying (?) remains were recovered. Israeli military recovers the bodies of 3 more hostages killed on Oct. 7 from Gaza (msn.com) On May 17, the bodies of Amit Buskila, Itzhak Gelerenter, and Shani Louk were discovered, also in Jabalia, with the same given story - dead all along. IDF recovers bodies of hostages Itzhak Gelerenter, Amit Buskila, Shani Louk, all slain on Oct. 7 | The Times of Israel 

Shani Louk, a 23-year-old tattoo artist with dual German citizenship, is one of the most famous faces of October 7. The girlfriend of Orion Hernandez (found the 24th), Shani was taken from the Nova rave and famously seen, distorted and likely dead in a truck bed, her distinctive tattooed legs broken and horribly bent back. Wearing just what she wore to the rave ("half-naked"), she was "paraded" through Gaza City (transported, with a traffic pause amid a hostile crowd), cursed and spat on. It was an ugly scene, widely seen as a fit reason to kill every person in Gaza.

Shani was confirmed dead back in October, albeit with some questions we'll consider here. But the other two had been listed until then as presumably alive. Now all 3 were supposedly killed on October 7, or died soon after from wounds sustained then. 

A fourth hostage, Ron Benjamin, was also found dead and publicly added to the tally the next day. He too was previously thought alive. IDF: Body of hostage Ron Benjamin recovered from Gaza, in addition to three others announced Friday | The Times of Israel 

That makes a total of 7 bodies found in a week, just one of them previously thought dead. The list of hostages thought to be alive keeps shrinking (and it's still too big). My previous post on May 11 was based on a list of 87 (it was 96 when I started following). That included 11 named by Hamas as killed, and an unclear majority of 65+ others they have reported dead without names. That is, most of them are likely dead. But just keeping it to what Israel confirms, the 6 newly-learned deaths - along with Lior Ruadaeff, and Eylakim Libman (declared dead in early May, but whom I missed at the time), brings the total down to 79 potentially living hostages, not 132 or even "around 100." 

Deaths in the Tunnels 

The May 17 bodies were reportedly found in a Hamas tunnel the IDF had just liberated, with an entrance (shown at right) reportedly inside a UNRWA building. A plaque says this "shelter" was "reconstructed" with German grants sometime last year. This was taken by some as another sign that UNRWA and the UN in general are secretly in cahoots with Hamas and pretty much everybody else, in a vast, global, antisemitic conspiracy. https://x.com/DrEliDavid/status/1793719511767502985

According to Times Of Israel military correspondent Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian: The May 24 bodies "were located in a tunnel in Jabaliya" in "the same area from which the bodies of another four hostages were recovered a week earlier." In this case, "the 75th Armored Battalion" killed a lookout, then "raided and captured the site," after which "troops of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit, Shin Bet agents, and special forces of the Military Intelligence Directorate entered the tunnel and located the bodies.... According to the IDF, the location of the bodies was extracted from intelligence obtained in recent days by the military and Shin Bet." https://x.com/manniefabian/status/1794413031314669870

By this, they knew about the hostages, where they were, and that they were already dead. The same "intelligence," Fabian writes, "also revealed that the three were abducted by Hamas terrorists from the Mefalsim area in southern Israel on October 7, and were killed there or a short while later en route to Gaza."

But the last time hostage bodies were found in a tunnel - back on December 14 - it seems quite likely they were alive until the IDF killed them. Unaware of any hostages in the area, they attacked a tunnel - also in in Jabalia - killing a top Hamas commander, Ahmad Al Ghandour. Afterwards, they found Ron Sherman, Nick Beiser, and Elia Toledano, it seems killed either with poison gas or some asphyxiating effect of the weaponry used. https://thegrayzone.com/2024/01/18/israeli-army-gassed-auschwitz-soldier/ - video from the tunnels: https://x.com/A_SX100/status/1739108581184586108

Unlike the others mentioned in this post, all 3 had been shown alive in an underground cell, on a Hamas-released video (https://t.me/mirrorresist/208). These 3 were acknowledged as killed just then, not back on October 7. If it weren't for this video, maybe we would have heard these guys too died back on October 7. 

Two days before that incident, on December 12, "the IDF recovered the bodies of Aden Zakaria and Ziv Dado from the same area." (Jerusalem Post via MSN) Unlike the 3 found in the tunnel, both are now thought to be killed on October 7. And like the 7 found in May, both were considered alive until then. Were they actually kidnapped alive and then killed in this same incident, or another incident related to the same assault? 

Shani's "Preserved Corpse" - "Miracle" or "Friendly Fire"?

Considering that their bodies would have been decaying for well over seven months before discovery in late May, it seems a "miracle" is involved at least in the case of the "confirmed" death, Shani Louk, so she appeared freshly dead. (hat-tip to Max Blumenthal for noticing this first, in this discussion)

The New York Post (via MSN), May 17: "The parents of Shani Louk, the 23-year-old tattoo artist killed by Hamas and paraded half-naked through Gaza like a trophy, described identifying their daughter’s body seven months after she was murdered by terrorists — hours after her remains were recovered in Rafah by Israeli soldiers."

“The body that we have now is complete and beautiful and looks like she’s alive actually,” said Shani’s father, Nissim Louk, telling The Post Friday that the condition of her body was “a miracle.”

“I think she’d been in one of the tunnels which was very, very cold…that’s why the body is complete and beautiful and the skin is still the same color, you still see the tattoos, it’s amazing,” he told The Post as part of a conversation with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach." Shani Louk’s parents describe seeing daughter’s body 7 months after she was murdered and paraded through Gaza (msn.com) 

Rabbi Shmuley probably agrees it's a miracle; God in his wisdom chose to let Shani die, but intervened to preserve her body perfectly for nearly eight months, to ... make some point about life, sacrifice, and Israel's beautiful future, or whatever? But I don't suspect that's the case. It's possible this is nothing more than some kind of mix-up or misunderstanding; for example, intercepted Hamas photos from the time of her death were shown in lieu of her actual body (although Nissim Louk's words don't sound like this is the case). Or maybe they sort of hallucinated her body appearing as they had last seen it, or as it should be? That seems possible.

Otherwise we have a problem. No tunnel is colder than the refrigerators they use for storing dead bodies, and after 7 months even on ice, a body will be deeply decayed. For reference, case from 2012 in Syria covered at this blog, where several men and boys - including the famous child martyr Hamza Al-Khatib - were kept refrigerated for a month or two after their killings in a murky "Saida massacre." After a month, as with Hamza, bodies have some discoloration and bloating, with a spreading green color in the abdomen, but fairly recognizable faces. The longest-held body I could see a video of, held 65 days, was blackening all over, with a withered, unrecognizable face. I can only imagine a body held for 7-8 months would be little more than bones and slime, with the normal refrigeration as seemingly used there.

There is also a colder, sub-zero type of body storage I know less about. A site focused on corpse presentability for a funeral outlines the difference:

1, In Positive Temperature Morgue Refrigerators, a body can be refrigerated for about two weeks before the effects of decomposition become pronounced. 

2, In Negative Temperature Morgue Refrigerators, a body can be preserved for months. (Other than "several" no number of months is specified. )

It seems possible, if complicated, for Hamas to operate either kind of system somewhere in or linked to their tunnel system, even with all the shortages of fuel and electricity. The negative temperature type might explain this "miracle," but this seems doubtful. Such a massively slowed decomposition that 7.5 months looks like a day would probably be said to keep a body somewhat presentable for "years," not "months." And under the strained conditions of the war, basic or no refrigeration is most likely. In that case, there would be a few days to a few weeks before a body stopped looking remotely "alive." 

To be clear, this suggests Shani Louk may have been alive long after October 7, and likely until the time of this IDF offensive, so that she was quite likely killed in that offensive. I haven't heard any descriptions of the others found in these tunnels, but the same story likely applies to at least to the three she was found alongside - all four may have been rendered as "bodies" just before their discovery as such.

But Wasn't Shani Confirmed as Dead? 

The initial video from October 7 suggested a dead person - legs badly broken and folded back, among other, less visible injuries, and no sign of movement. But it was just days before, on October 11, Shani's mother, Ricarda Louk, "confirmed that she is alive in hospital but remains in critical condition" with a "severe head injury."  https://x.com/MetroUK/status/1712090673594192377 

Mrs. Louk would later explain how, a few minutes before 7 a.m. on October 7, Shani's friend Keshet Casarotti placed an emergency call saying Shani was "injured but conscious," allowing for hope. Then later "we received a sign of life, which we didn't know whether it was true, from someone who went to look for her in hospitals. He told us that she was in a Hamas hospital, seriously injured in the head. We hoped it was true, that it was some sign of life." https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/02/12/she-left-something-for-the-world-drawings-of-shani-louk-turned-into-exhibition/

But this hope was soon dispelled by Israeli state experts; on or by October 30, Shani's death was announced by Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after a fragment from her skull was located. 

CNN:  "The bone fragment was from the petrous part of the temporal bone, which is at the base of the skull, normally near the carotid artery, a major blood vessel that provides blood to the brain. A DNA test concluded the fragment belonged to Louk. The bone fragment, combined with the circumstances surrounding the October 7 attack and video that appeared to show Louk unconscious on the back of a Hamas truck, led investigators to conclude these were her remains."  

"The determination was made by five top experts at the health ministry, including Dr. Chen Kugel, the director of Israel's National Center of Forensic Medicine." https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-10-30-23/h_829538af35379597bccd8720cad210b8

As Ricarda Louk was told “A human being cannot live without this piece they found. ... They found it on the Israeli side, so it means it’s from the first day — because on that first day, after a few hours, we had already seen a video of her body in the Gaza Strip.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/witness-of-shani-louks-death-recounts-her-final-moments-in-this-world/ar-AA1jdqvp

A more definitive call was attempted, perhaps on accident, by Israel's president Isaac Herzog. Confirming her death on October 30, he explained incorrectly to the German newspaper Bild. "Her skull was found ... This means that these barbaric, sadistic animals simply chopped off her head as they attacked, tortured and killed Israelis." https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/1698670724-herzog-says-german-israeli-shani-louk-found-beheaded-in-gaza The New York Post would report in May "Shani’s family announced in late October that she had died at the hands of Hamas, with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog later revealing to a German newspaper that she had been beheaded." But that wasn't "revealed." Her head is still plainly attached in the video of her body. Most relevant sources will ignore this bit of atrocity propaganda nonsense, but remain sure that Shani at least was dead from the start, because a crucial, if small, part of her head was missing. 

The "petrous part of the temporal bone" is a sort of dish-shaped portion of the skull's base, with the outer part corresponding to around the ear and a bit behind that. (I think ... Petrous part of the temporal bone - Wikipedia) Looking at the video, a noticeable triangular chunk is missing from about there, on the right side, closer to the back of the skull than to the ear.  

This is nowhere near the carotid artery on the front of the neck, so if that was the supposed issue, it's nil. But some blood meant for her brain is visible on her neck, and more yet is hidden in her impressive dreadlocks, and soaked into the brown top one of the fighters tugs on (that's why it's barely visible, and she looks more "half-naked" than she actually was).

Anyway, I don't see this as so obviously fatal that one should discount "someone who went to look for her" finding her alive but "seriously injured in the head." That sounds totally consistent with the visuals. She would be unconscious and appear dead, and would likely never recover. She may remain paralyzed or comatose, but alive, with - FWIW - skin regenerating daily rather than decaying. And that would explain her appearance in May, with no "miracle" required.  

If the famous captive Shani Louk was alive, you would think Hamas would say so or show us, but they never did. Still, we have the possibility of life, early reports of just that, and the appearance of life holding for 7.5 months. All that is not so easy to explain away.

Ricarda Louk: “It’s just horrific… it’s unimaginable what they did here. Everybody needs to know exactly and inform themselves what really happened.”

Indeed. It might be the other 3 were thought to be alive until then because, like Shani, they were. Maybe Hamas never reported their deaths because it came with the overrunning of a group in Jabaila. "Contact lost" with the group guarding prisoners X Y Z are sometimes reported, but not that I see in this case. Still, it seems likely enough considering the record so far. 

Other Signs of Life?

I did a quick search for related reports on the other 7 recently-found hostages. The best I found was regarding Shani's boyfriend Orion Hernandez: his father said in January: "“Hope obviously exists,” Hernández told CNN en Español this week. “We presume that he is alive because [his friends called] Orión’s phone, and a terrorist or a person from Hamas said that Orión was alive, that they had him prisoner and that he was going to be used as exchange for political purposes.”" Then, "A few days later, a general in the Israel Defense Forces confirmed to Hernández that his son was among the approximately 250 people taken hostage by Hamas," but not necessarily that he was alive. https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/family-of-remaining-mexican-hostage-in-gaza-speaks-out/

That could have been a Hamas lie, considering the mentioned leverage is greater with a living body. Later, we would "learn" Orion died right away along with Shani. But we shouldn't be so sure of that.

I didn't find any other such clues. Mainly these people were listed missing, then found or assumed to be held hostage in Gaza, possibly alive or as a corpse. But that was a quick search. There may be more to find.

December 2: Israel somehow learns Ron Benjamin was not missing but held hostage in Gaza, status unspecified. His brother would say "I’m happy to hear he is a hostage.” https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/family-of-ron-binyamin-missing-since-oct-7-informed-he-is-being-held-hostage-in-gaza/ On January 16 His daughter Shay Benjamin: “We know he is there and we have something to fight for,” she said. But beyond that, “we know nothing.” https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/story/2024-01-16/i-cant-give-up-families-of-hamas-hostages-share-stories-of-dread-and-hope-in-san-diego

Amit Buskila: an article https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/taken-captive-amit-buskila-heard-begging-terrorists-not-to-take-her/ar-AA1k5B0j and video https://x.com/bringhomenow/status/1721895199734104142 of last contact, a frantic call to her uncle - terrorists closing in, she was shot in the hand, acts like she's going to die, likely wasn't, but allegedly did. No contact or updates that I noticed until she was found dead. 

"On January 4th, 90 days since they last spoke to Hanan, the Yablonka family had been informed that Hanan is amongst those who are being held captive in Gaza," but not necessarily alive. https://x.com/bringhomenow/status/1784884025829597298

Michel Nisenbaum: Dec 6 "It took two months for authorities to determine what happened to him … he was likely abducted to the Gaza Strip and is being held hostage." https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/family-of-michel-nisenbaum-sderot-resident-missing-since-oct-7-is-told-hes-in-gaza/

Itzhak Gelerenter: nothing of interest turned up quickly enough.

Addenda

Another Few Cases?

"The families of two Thai hostages, Sonthaya Oakkharasr and Sudthisak Rinthalak, were informed on 16 May that they were killed during the 7 October attack and their bodies were being held by Hamas in Gaza." Hamas hostages: Stories of the people taken from Israel (bbc.com)

How do they learn this, at the same time they find and recover dead Israelis, but not recover these bodies? From collected intelligence, perhaps.

The same BBC article mentions two more suspected hostages to scratch off earlier in May, that I had noticed and then forgot: Lior Ruadaeff, 61, and Eylakim Libman, 23. Libman was reportedly discovered in Israel, presumably in tiny pieces. Or maybe like Shani, they found tiny pieces of a person who's in Gaza, maybe alive but missing some pieces? If so, did they find the pieces or kill the person in May as this call was made? Lior Rudaeff "went out to join the battle for the kibbutz, and later sent a message that he had been hurt. He sent his love to his wife, Yaffa, and his four children, and since then, all communication was lost." Sounds like a kidnapping, as he never turned up, but no news confirmed if he was held, alive or dead. Some news emerged May 7 and "The Hostages and Missing Families Forum issues a statement saying Rudaeff was killed on October 7 and his body was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists to the Strip, without details of how this was discovered."

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/lior-rudaeff-missing-since-oct-7-confirmed-killed-that-day-his-body-taken-to-gaza/

Shani Louk's Abduction

"...a few minutes before 7 a.m. they called Magen David Adom. That call was recorded, in it Keshet asks them to come, says that his friend, Shani, is injured but conscious, and that there are a lot of damaged cars. A few minutes after 7 he called again and asked where they were and why they didn't come. Then we found out from Keshet's family that he was also injured, and at some point caught a ride and continued to another intersection, where he was killed. Orion stayed with Shani, in Mefalsim, which is really close to the Gaza border, and that's where they kidnapped them both." (Shani's friend Keshet Casarotti - boyfriend Orion Hernandez)  https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/02/12/she-left-something-for-the-world-drawings-of-shani-louk-turned-into-exhibition/

A girl with blond dreadlocks similar to Shani's was seen sheltering, with other ravegoers, behind an army tank (or "used as a human shield" by it) and widely taken as Shani. But this seems like a different girl with different attire (no brown top, just a black bra), a different face, and different dreads (thinner, blonder and more braided). That scene was located just north of Re'im, some 15km south of Mefalsim.  https://x.com/GeoConfirmed/status/1733315824704700649

Mefalsim, around 7 am - same time & place (north of the "dangerous curve" to the east into the rising sun) where "they" (presumably Hamas) shot Gal Abdush, the supposed rape victim seen with legs spread and partially burned. Her husband Nagi witnessed her injury and called in that she was "dying," with no mention of rape or burning, before he too was killed around 7:45. Michael Kobs on X: "The circumstances of Gal Abdush's death raise very serious questions indeed./ X (twitter.com) 

As Kobs notes, Mefalsim is "a small kibbutz that wasn't infiltrated but was successfully defended by its own armed settlers," raising the question if their aggressive defense killed anyone on the highway. It's the highway wrapping around the village where Hamas was apparently operating well, taking hostages from the traffic. Those found May 17 AND the 3 found May 24 were all said to be kidnapped from the Mefalsim area. Ron Benjamin was last heard from around 7:30 am, so about the same time the others saw trouble. IDF: Body of hostage Ron Benjamin recovered from Gaza, in addition to three others announced Friday | The Times of Israel Already by 7am "there are a lot of damaged cars" there (Keshet), just where Gal Abdush was shot by their damaged car, before any known Apache helicopter presence. It seems an open question who was to blame for the highway deaths, but likely enough it was mostly or all by Hamas, maybe in part to make a barrier from defensive fire out of the stalled cars. 

Other contested hostage updates

There was one woman - Hanna Katzir - that Hamas reported dead in November, to explain why she wasn't being released. But then she was released. That would certainly not be a good lie, and could be some honest mix-up. But it was taken as a lie and good reason to reject the same claim regarding Kfir & Ariel Bibas and their mother Shiri - Hamas lied about them too, but chose not to expose it by releasing these still-living prisoners, and that's exactly why it's thought Hamas still holds any children hostage.  

Above was mentioned 2 found December 12 (Aden Zakaria and Ziv Dado), thought to be alive but found dead. 

There are 2 more who, like Shani, were thought dead but then reported alive. Then at least one of them was reported dead again: 

Hamas captive Judith Weinstein was "confirmed" in December to have been injured on 10/7 and died soon after. But according to Hamas' Abu Obeida, she was treated for those injuries & lived, was then killed in April, with another prisoner, when Israeli bombing caused new injuries they could not treat with the siege's crippling of the medical system.  https://twitter.com/CL4Syr/status/1788712158752317693 - https://t.me/resistmirror1/5283 - https://t.me/resistmirror1/5284 - https://t.me/resistmirror1/5458 - https://t.me/resistmirror1/5457

They never mentioned Weinstein's survival until, they say, it was no more. But another prisoner said to be wounded in the same strike also died - Nadav Popplewell - and his death was soon confirmed. In his case, an image of him seemingly dead was released. But this was never done for Weinstein, so her case remains somewhat dubious. But to the extent it might be true, it's a precedent for Shani Louk surviving silently, for a while.

Another thought dead since 10/7, but reported alive, fate by now unclear: Col. Asaf Hamami

It was on December 2, 2023: IDF announces the death of Col. Asaf Hamami, 41, the commander of the Gaza Division’s southern brigade, although his remains were still held by Hamas. I'm not sure why they announced this then and didn't announce it earlier. Considering the above, he was initially missing, perhaps living as a hostage, and too high profile to write off easily. But then in December - as the one hostage deal was wrapped up and it was decided to excluded further deals, maybe it was decided to simplify things by writing off Col. Hamami as "dead or probably gonna be." Weinstein was also confirmed dead in December. Were all such question marks resolved then in the same way?

Hamas has never said anything public to the contrary before,  just the other day on May 23, a Hamas video suggests he may still be alive, while offering no evidence. Hamami was captured alive, they say, but "injured during his arrest." Suggesting an answer may be forthcoming, they ask "What is his fate now?" Added text: "A leadership leaves its army leaders in captivity!! Please don't worry about it!!" reminds the reader time is running out, your government is lying.  https://t.me/resistmirror1/6281

Reported separately at the same time: "Hxmas claims that it will release a recording of Colonel Asaf Hamami, whom Israel claimed was killed on October 7. According to Hxmas, he is injured and inside the Gaza Strip, and the recording will feature his voice without an image. This information comes from Arab networks reporting on behalf of Hamas just a minute ago. This is big news if true." https://x.com/Osint613/status/1793663530878607791

I'm skeptical. Such a high-profile captive, if he were one - yet no image to go with the voice, if they even have that - no confirmation or mention before now ... could be. Maybe he's too disfigured to show? Maybe they just never thought to mention him until now? Considering the record so far, maybe. I can only be skeptical here.