Pawns to Plow Over: How Netanyahu is Sacrificing the Last Israeli Hostages

By Adam Larson (aka Caustic Logic)

May 11, 2024

(rough, incomplete)

A post tracing out an important story like this should be done in a timely manner, so my old "rough, incomplete" posting style returns. ... some citations, hopefully no more details, some editing still planned.

Aside from about 2% who've been killed, nearly all of Gaza's people, around 1.4 million, are now forced into Rafah on the Egyptian border. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has all along promised to continue the fight into the city, to eradicate Hamas and make sure nothing like their October 7 attacks could ever happen again. As this seemed imminent, there was a new push in March and April for a hostages-and-ceasefire deal. But a final promising line failed, with both sides blaming each other, before the IDF began operations inside Rafah on May 7, evacuating some eastern districts, launching strikes there and beyond, and seizing the border crossing with Egypt, and vowing to continue despite the dramatic announcement of a freeze on (relevant) US-supplied weapons.

Netanyahu’s office would say the Hamas ceasefire plan he had just rejected “would appear to be a ruse intended to make Israel look like the side refusing a deal.” (Telegraph) But as this article will explain, the opposite may be true and in the most cynical way; after killing many of its own hostages, Israel demanded the release of more than there were still alive, and quite likely did this knowingly. With their impossible demand unmet, they could blame Hamas as they pursue the attack they wanted, at great peril to the remaining hostages and to every other person currently trying to survive in Rafah.

This is explained a little ways below. First, some optional context (may be slimmed down).

The First Days: Hostage Prevention, Then Hostage Sacrifice

When Hamas fighter/terrorists swept into Israeli territory on October 7 and started snatching people to take back to Gaza, it seems they tried to take far more than they finally did. Dozens or perhaps hundreds of captured citizens were killed, alongside their captors, by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) tank and helicopter fire in the overrun villages, army bases, a police station, at the Nova rave, and across the fields back to Gaza.  

This has been a sort of massive open secret from almost the beginning, as confirmed by the IDF itself, As Jonathn Cook would write for Middle East Eye, December 15: "This week the Israeli military finally conceded that it had killed its own civilians on October 7 "in immense and complex quantity”. Given the large numbers, it added with transparent non-logic: “It would not be morally sound to investigate these incidents.” 

While accidents are likely enough in such a scenario, it seems this "friendly fire" was at least partly intentional. This may have been a twisted new take on the IDF's controversial "Hannibal" directive: abductions must be prevented, even at the risk of killing a captive soldier, rather than to let him (or her) weaken Israel with a lopsided prisoner exchange. The policy was formally cancelled years ago, following the events of "Black Friday" in Rafah, 2014 (Al-Jazeera documentary), and it was never used for civilian captives. But an investigation by Israeli paper Yedioth Ahronoth found the Hannibal directive was effectively reactivated and expanded at noon on October 7, with the order to stop terrorists from returning to Gaza "at all costs." No exception is noted for the wide presence of hostages, including civilian ones, which was well known by then. (https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/yokra13754368)

Some deadly fire by Apache helicopters preceded that order, while the first IDF tank attack on a commandeered house would only come around 5pm in Be'eri, according to the widely-cited survivors Yasmin Porat and Hadas Dagan. This may have been specially approved based on the existing order plus the appeal of killing an amazing 40 terrorists holed up in that house, at the known cost: 13 civilians, including two children, were killed. It was only after this that the policy was maybe expanded to settle other hostage standoffs. In some cases, hostages were rescued, but only by force - never by a deal. But many other houses in Be'eri and other villages would be blasted the same way over the following 2 days, with dozens or hundreds killed and no survivors allowed. 

So Israeli leadership seemingly decided they wanted as few hostages as possible to deal with or bring home. In the end, only some 250 people - civilian and military, Israeli and foreign - were successfully kidnapped into Gaza - some of them wounded by both sides' fire - before Israel started its bombing there just a few hours later. 

After a week of this brutal assault, Hamas was offering to negotiate. But as Times of Israel reported, October 14: National Security Council head Tzachi Hanegbi said “Israel will not hold negotiations with an enemy that we have vowed to wipe from the face of the earth,” These comments "prompted fury from the families of the missing," the Times reported, "with their spokesman accusing the government of abandoning them." After all, some of their kids and kin were stuck on that part of the Earth's face.

The following day, Netanyahu invited several of these family members to a hastily convened meeting. It was a private meeting, but someone secretly recorded the audio, which was later published by Uncaptured Media, with notes by Dan Cohen.

"Less than 20 minutes into the meeting, according to family members of captives who were there, an aide to Netanyahu entered the room and announced that another group of families of captives had arrived. Several religious Zionists, identifiable by their distinctive style of dress, then entered the room, none of whom were familiar to the families already inside."

"As those families would soon find out, Netanyahu, the group of religious Zionist latecomers, and a broader political network of extreme right-wing Kahanists, had fired the opening shot of a total psychological, political and media war against the families of the captives, seeking to demoralize and confuse them, and drown out their calls for negotiations with Hamas in the national cacophony of calls for vengeance."

These "latecomers" also had family killed or kidnapped, or missing and perhaps kidnapped, somewhere in Gaza. But they told the others they should trust the Prime Minister to ensure Israel's future, and not let their personal pain complicate the war effort. Tzvika Mor would say "more than I love my son, I love the people of Israel. ... Therefore I want to empower you [Netanyahu] and the entire war cabinet ... we trust you 200 percent.” Ohad Zvi Lapidot also highlighted the PM's leadership, staring to explain "there is a chess game, there are pawns..." but he was interrupted by several others, reminding him those were their children and loved ones, not Netanyahu's "pawns" to surrender for whatever strategy. 

At the meeting's end, Cohen writes, "Netanyahu boasted about the bombing campaign on Gaza, and insisted that though the defeat of Hamas was the overriding priority, the government would also seek the release of the captives." (see also: https://twitter.com/dancohen3000/status/1749587413796589859)

The following violence has killed nearly 2% of Gaza's population as it pushes them from one "safe zone" to the next, smashing almost everything along the way. It seems it has also killed many of the hostages. Hamas commander Abu Obeida would say on November 4: "more than 60 enemy prisoners" were killed in the intensive first weeks IDF bombing, with 23 of their bodies hopelessly buried in the rubble. (https://t.me/resistmirror1/218) No names or other specifics were offered, and the claim seems to be widely discounted by Israel. But to the extent this is true, it might be an accidental effect of the massive bombing, a piecemeal continuation of October 7's "friendly fire," or some of both.  

Israel began its ground invasion of Gaza on October 26. Haim Rubinstein, an advocate for hostage families, would tell Times of Israel in April, the families were not informed of this, and demanded a meeting that same day. Netanyahu evaded and then agreed but, as Rubinstein says, he "merely said a military operation in Gaza was needed to serve as leverage for the hostages’ release." But “We later found out that Hamas had offered on October 9 or 10 to release all the civilian hostages in exchange for the IDF not entering the Strip," Rubinstein says, "but the government rejected the offer.” They wanted to get them out with "leverage" instead. 

Rubinstein also said “There is no doubt that Netanyahu is preventing a deal," and accused the PM of "meddling in the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, in an attempt to divide [the families],” 

As they pushed for "leverage" and hostage release, the IDF managed to claim an early victory on October 30 with the "active rescue" of Private Ori Megidish. Questions surround this case; she was missing from initial listings of those kidnapped, only being added on the day of her rescue (Hala Jaber on X) and a supposed Hamas computer found in al-Shifa hospital had a public photo of pvt. Megidish as its wallpaper, as if to prove she had been there or in their hands (Younis Tirawi). But the supposed rescue provided "hope to millions of Israelis that more hostages can be released," as a spokesman said, even without striking any deals. 

Hopes aside, no more hostages were freed by any means before a November ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal that allowed 105 of them, mostly women and children, to be released alive and safely returned home. 

Hamas explained that Ariel and Kfir Bibas, ages 4 and 10 months (at kidnapping) had already been killed, along with their mother, in Israeli bombing, According to Al-Qassam and Al-Quds Brigades on Telegram, November 30: "The resistance offered to hand over the three bodies, but the occupation government refused to receive them and is still maneuvering and bargaining." Israel has generally dismissed this claim, insisting Hamas was still holding children - just these 2 - demanding they be brought home. 

Netanyahu Suddenly Takes an Interest

No more deals or releases followed before Israel managed, on February 12, to rescue two of its hostages (Fernando Simon Marman and Luis Har) by military force alone. Around 100 civilians were reportedly killed in this bold raid into Rafah city and in related military strikes. It was the only rescue since Megidish, and there haven't been any since. By force, Israel brough home two or maybe three of their hostages. Employing peace as well, they got 105.

That victory also helped to overshadow some bad news from the day before; two other hostages were killed in an airstrike, according to the Hamas-affiliated Al-Qassam and Al-Quds Brigades, with 8 more badly wounded (Telegram). Three of these reportedly died the following day, for a total of at least five killed (TG). The fate of the rest and the names of any of these victims were never reported. 

On February 11, as the 2 deaths were reported, Netanyahu was asked how many of the hostages remained. He didn't know exactly, but said it was "enough to warrant the kind of efforts that we're doing," perhaps meaning there were still too many and he planned to keep killing them off. (France 24)  

A few weeks later, on March 1 (TG), Hamas channels confirmed three deaths they had reported earlier (it may be November 18 that contact was lost with the group holding them (TG), or December 23 when the 3 were named (TG)). Now the men were shown (TG), speaking in an earlier video. They were named as Amiram Cooper, Chaim Peri, and Yoram Metzger (left-to-right here). These were senior men of "the generation who built the foundation" of Israel, as Mr. Peri put it, who helped launch the IDF and hoped to avoid dying now at its hands.

According to "a leading source in the Qassam [brigade]" and reported on the brigade's official website, one of these men, Yoram Metzger, was "a close friend of Netanyahu "according to his confessions" while in detention." (alqassam.ps) Their Telegram channel posted this provocative image of the Israeli PM crossing out a photo of Metzger. Notes in English, Hebrew and Arabic say: "Netanyahu abandoned his buddies to face their fate alone without saving them."

That claim isn't confirmed that I know of, but it was just at this time that Netanyahu seemed to grow suddenly intrigued about details of the hostages, like just how many were still alive. His government explicitly pressed for a list of who remained before agreeing to any more potential deals. By March 3 they were boycotting ongoing talks in Cairo until this demand was met.

RTE March 3:  "Israel, which has so far announced no plans to join the Egypt talks, has demanded Hamas provide it with a list of all 130 remaining captives, including more than 30 it fears are dead. One source briefed on the talks had said yesterday that Israel could stay away from Cairo unless Hamas first presented its full list of hostages who are still alive."

A cynical reading of this move: if the IDF had already killed most of its own hostages (and if this included Yoram Metzger?), the few remaining might be expendable enough to ignore, and the assault should continue. 

Feeling for the Point of No Return?

As if to test that possibility, Irael's demand for a full list shifted to a selection of 40 living hostages in the "humanitarian" category: women, children, older and sick men (or excluding healthy fighting age men). This should probably account for close to half the total, and people have been assuming there around 100 living hostages. If those assumptions are correct, 40 eligible people should be around.

The Guardian, March 4: "Israel has not sent a delegation to the second day of talks in Cairo, demanding that Hamas present a list of 40 elderly, sick and female hostages who would be the first to be released as part of a truce that would initially last six weeks, beginning with the month of Ramadan, the officials say."

Hamas had consistently demanded a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of enemy forces, while Israel only offered a 6-week truce, and that only upon getting those 40 names. This wasn't resolved immediately, with the demand remaining the same and unmet a month later. Times of Israel April 8: According to unnamed Israeli officials "40 hostages would be freed under the first phase of the proposed deal, during a six-week truce," and the rest in due time. In return, "Israel would release 700 Palestinian security prisoners, including more than 100 serving life for attacks that killed Israelis." 

It sounded like a great deal, considering the alternatives. But even with a month since the demand was issued, Hamas finally replied, disturbingly, in the negative. CNN would report on April 10: Hamas has told international mediators – which include Qatar and Egypt - it does not have 40 living hostages who match those criteria for release, both sources said." ... "The inability - or unwillingness - of Hamas to tell Israel which hostages would be released, alive, is a major obstacle, the second source added." But as CNN noted, this revelation also raised "fears that more hostages may be dead than are publicly known." 

Side-note: Both sources above fail to mention the release of any children, as they also switch to just living people. Have they finally acknowledged that Ariel and Kfir Bibas are gone, as they ask only for women and certain men? 

Israel then revised its demand, in a show of reasonableness. Acknowledging there may be more deaths than they assumed - but just a bit more - they could settle for 33 hostages and no less. Times of Israel, April 29: "Three Israeli officials confirm to The New York Times that Israel has dropped its demand that Hamas free 40 living hostages as part of a truce agreement and will now accept the release of 33 hostages. One of the officials says the shift was due to assessments that some of the 40 hostages whose release Israel was demanding have died in Hamas captivity." 

Side-note: Again, "The numbers relate to hostages in a so-called “humanitarian” designation" listed in the Times report as "women, children, men over 50, and those who are sick." Are they back to pretending Hamas holds living children? (here and above: it's not certain whose wording this is and what it means)

The shift to 33 was ostensibly meant to reflect the number of requested hostages who had already died. But if that was really the intent, it seems to have failed. Hamas would report back they didn't even have 33 relevant hostages.

This time they made a specific offer to release 33 hostages - apparently meaning all of those still alive, plus some of the dead. Times of Israel, May 7: "The New York Times reported Tuesday that the terror group had explicitly told mediators that some of the 33 hostages it would release under the first phase of the prospective deal would not be alive."

The report also notes "The Times said it was not clear whether the terror group had informed interlocutors how many of the 33 would be alive." Perhaps they did specify and it's the Israeli side keeping that from us, because Hamas had just offered to release nearly the demanded 33 - say 26 living hostages (see below) - plus the remains of 7 others, as the best they could do in trade for a 6-week delay on the offensive. But as the ToI report notes "the claim that even the 33 under discussion are not all alive appears to be a new walk-back by the terror group," and "A failure to release 33 living hostages would appear to conflict with Israeli demands." 

Indeed, the war cabinet was unsatisfied with this answer and took it as a last straw. The Telegraph, May 7: "Israel rejected a ceasefire offer from Hamas on Monday night ... saying a last-minute proposal had failed to meet its key demands. ... and that it would continue with a planned ground invasion of Rafah “in order to apply military pressure to Hamas” and to free hostages." Tanks entered Rafah that same day. We'll see how that works out. 

"Mr Netanyahu’s office said it would send a negotiating team to Egypt to discuss an agreement, but officials earlier warned that the Hamas plan “would appear to be a ruse intended to make Israel look like the side refusing a deal” when really, he suggests, Hamas were the ones refusing to ... bring people back to life after his own forces killed them? As the next section will finally explain, it seems that, in its intensive assault on Gaza, Israel had killed so many of its own hostages that Hamas was not able to meet even the revised demand. 

The Tally: Too Small to Fit the Bill

The Guardian, March 4: "Diplomatic sources in Washington ... suggested" the failure to identify the initial 40 "could reflect problems of communication between Hamas units inside and outside Gaza, that some hostages could be held by other groups including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or that elements of Hamas were withholding the information as a way of obstructing a deal." That too many have been killed isn't even mentioned as a possible reason.

But CNN's April 10 report would notes "CNN’s record of the conditions of the hostages also suggests there are fewer than 40 living hostages who meet the proposed criteria." I've been following this subject for months now, with one post here and some on X (Twitter), but I would point first to this detailed report in Hebrew from Ha-Makom. CNN's record seems to be accurate, and this may be highly relevant. 

Some hostages who made it to Gaza died early on from injuries sustained on October 7. Others were reportedly killed by IDF bombing, shooting, or from lack of food & medicine enforced by Israel, and even in a possible use of chemical weapons deployed in Hamas' tunnels (The Gray Zone). The bulk of these reported deaths came early. As mentioned above, Hamas commander Abu Obeida would say on November 4: "more than 60 enemy prisoners" were killed in the intensive first weeks IDF bombing, with 23 bodies buried in the rubble. None of those 60+ were named, and their exact number and dates of death all unclear. 

So here is my updated list of 39 named or specified fatalities following that announcement. Perhaps a few earlier deaths here were included in the 60+, but most clearly came after it, so that the full total who've died is probably less than 99+, but not by much.

Totals:

28 reportedly and likely killed in IDF attacks on/in Gaza  

6+ following/caused by injury on Oct. 7 (possibly by IDF, if mainly by Hamas)

2+ medical neglect/lack of food (likely worsened by Israeli blockade)

3 unclear, and 0 proven Hamas executions.

Side-note on the 2 most recent additions (Judith Weinstein, unnamed Nadav Popplewell) these are more questionable than most, but worth adding to this list of reported deaths. see: Adam Larson #EndtheOPCWCoverup #FreeAssange onX - https://t.me/resistmirror1/5283 - https://t.me/resistmirror1/5284 - https://t.me/resistmirror1/5458 - https://t.me/resistmirror1/5457

The total number still alive is harder to know. Chabad.org maintains a list (last updated May 6) of hostages held, those released or rescued, those killed with bodies recovered, and those killed and still held, all arranged for the appropriate prayers. This gives 87 hostages thought to be alive (it was 96 at one point) and 36 bodies, presumably confirmed as such, which they want returned. That totals 123 - a bit less than the 130+ usually cited as hostages still held by Hamas. (Chabad also lists 19 recovered bodies and 108 released alive = total 250.)

The 87 living hostages Chabad lists includes 10 11 people named by Hamas channels as killed in Israeli attacks or by their siege (Bibas, Bibas, Bibas, Cooper, Peri, Metzger, Dancyg, Elgarat, Buchstab, Weinstein, Popplewell). Subtracting those leaves at most 77 76 that probably are alive.

The 60+ killed in the first month and the 5 reportedly killed in February remain unnamed (at least 66). With no names given, we cannot check if any on that huge 60+ pool are already listed among the confirmed deaths. Therefore, a maximum, where all those reported deaths are also confirmed (unlikely) could leave up to that full 76. A minimum where all those remain unconfirmed would leave only 9, or less yet if others have since died. 

A most-likely middle range with 35-55 unconfirmed deaths to subtract would mean somewhere between 21 and 41 hostages remain alive, in total, or perhaps less by now.

However, the latest deals focus on hostages in a the “humanitarian” designation — women, any children, and men over 50 or who are sick. I tried to list all by age and gender, using 2 lists, and hopefully not missing anyone. As listed, 37 hostages thought to be alive that fit the bill for age and gender. Subtracting the named ten who were probably killed = a maximum of 28 27 eligible hostages still alive. Here are all of these (listed by last name). Some or most of these people could very well have been free by now. It seems that Hamas had offered to free them.

name                    age        female?

AlZayadni Yosef  53

Albag Liri  18 f

Alkadi Qaid Farhan 53

Argamani Noa  26 f

Ariev Karina  19 f

Ben Ami Ohad  55

Benjamin Ron  53

Berger Agam  19 f

Buskila Esther Amit 28 f

Damari Emily         27 f

Gat Carmel 39 f

Gelerenter Itzhak 56

Gilboa Daniella 19 f

Idan Tsachi 51

Kalderon Ofer 53

Levy Naama 19 f

Lifshitz Oded 83

Mansour Shlomo 85

Mozes Gadi Moshe 79

Munder Abraham 78

Nisenbaum Michel 59

Popplewell Nadav 51

Rudaeff Lior 61

Sharabi Eli 51

Siegel Samuel Keith 64

Steinbrecher Doron 35 f

Yehoud Arbel 28 f

Yerushalmi Eden 24 f

This is not subtracting any of the 60+ first reported deaths, so there are probably even less than this. But then any fighting-age males (not listed here) who are sick enough to qualify will add to this. They might all be sick and probably malnourished, and could maybe be called sick, but there may not be very many left. Those killed is likely the higher number, leaving the tally of eligible and surviving hostages unclear but almost surely less than 27. 

The state of Israel will have more detailed information, but they might have reached a similar conclusion. They likely weren't sure when they asked in March how many were still alive, and might have been genuinely feeling it out when they asked for 40, then 33. But it seems quite likely they had some idea and were intentionally demanding more living hostages than there were, Hoping that no one would realize that, Netanyahu could strike a pose as making offer after "reasonable" offer that he knew could never be met - a "ruse," you could say, just to have Hamas "refuse" and all the death to follow seem like their fault. 

Either way, at less than 33 fit for release, it was clear the IDF had killed enough of its own people that they didn't need to bother with the rest. It was time to commence the assault on Rafah, at whatever risk to the few still with us. 

Left to be Plowed Over

It's not clear who remains, but the hostages seen alive most recently have the best case for remining that way now. These are the nine 11 I have noted, listed chronologically.

1 Naama Levy, a socially conscious young recruit famously seen in bloodied pants (most likely unrelated to any rape), was perhaps seen alive after an IDF strike in November, being hurriedly moved by some civilian men to an unclear, maybe safer location. https://twitter.com/MatamalasJ/status/1736431066188013571

2 Yarden Bibas was seen in a video posted November 30, lamenting that IDF bombing killed his wife Shiri and 2 young sons, and (under general duress, of course) asking to be brought home rather than join them. https://t.me/resistmirror1/654

3 Noa Argamani, perhaps the most famous face of the October 7 abductions was seen in a video posted January 15/16. She was alive and well but with shrapnel injuries (she says) after two IDF strikes. One strike killed fellow captive Yossi Sharabi, then Itay Svirsky was killed in another (plus however many of the Hamas men guarding them, and whoever else was killed in each incident). She complained then of a lack of food and water, and she does not look overfed. It's nearly four months later now.

4,5,6,7,8 the military girls Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Doron Steinbrecher, Liri Albag, and Agam Berger were shown is some videos in January. On the 7th, Albag, Ariev, Berger, and Gilboa (https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/1744371471953084681) were seen variously injured and terrified, but it was old footage from "hours after their October 7 kidnapping." (the video is said to be Hamas-released, but it doesn't appear on the usual Telegram channel - it may be unreleased footage that soldiers found during the war) A few weeks later, on the 26th, Hamas clearly released a video of  Ariev, Gilboa, and a new face - Steinbrecher - in better shape and speaking at some length in a new video. I'm not sure what they say, but they say it with apparent conviction. (https://t.me/resistmirror1/3434) Liri Albag and Agam Berger failing to re-appear might be a bad sign.

9 Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a US dual-national abducted from Nova rave after having his left hand blown off by a Hamas grenade. He was seen speaking in a video published on April 24, cursing Netanyahu for abandoning him, with a fierceness that doesn't seem coached. He shows the stump where Hamas took his hand, and where their surgeons seem to have fixed it up pretty well. He might remain bitter, but it's not what threatens to kill him. As Hersh says in the video, IDF bombs have already killed "about 70 detainees like me." That may be a total killed just by bombing - others reportedly died from IDF shooting and other methods, including in a possible use of chemical weapons deployed in Hamas' tunnels. (https://twitter.com/WarMonitors/status/1783135612758855722 - https://t.me/resistmirror1/5110)

10,11 Keith Siegel (another US dual-national), and Omri Miran were seen speaking, and Siegel openly weeping, just a few days later, on April 27.

https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1784309485298651272 -  - https://t.me/resistmirror1/5135

Finally, on May 10 it was announced on the Hamas telegram channel "A few days ago, in the last moments, we rescued an enemy prisoner after he attempted to commit suicide where he was captured. We hold the enemy and Netanyahu personally fully responsible for the deterioration of the physical and mental health of some enemy prisoners #Time_is_running_out" https://t.me/resistmirror1/5404

These 11 people were alive last we saw, however long ago that was. It's likely at least one of these has since been killed, or has killed themself, but there are others that still want to come home, and have loved ones who want that dearly. But it seems Benjamin Netanyahu - "Satanyahu" - insists on playing twisted games with their fate, making it depend on Hamas' ability to meet "reasonable" yet impossible demands.

Instead, it's on to the next phase of genocide - making life for everyone stuck in Gaza impossible - hopefully forcing their long-favored solution of expelling Gaza's Arab population and making the place their own. They might plan to build a shorter and cheaper Ben Gurion canal right across Rafah, and perhaps to build new Jewish cities atop the rubble of Old Gaza. They won't care much about all the still-missing Palestinians buried in shreds far below, but they might find it uncomfortable to build on top of their own people, recalling how they consented to Netanyahu's plowing over those "pawns" along the way.

Thoughts on the UN Report and What it Shows about October 7 Rape Claims

March 8, 2024

A Report from "the Viagra Lady"

Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict: "Mission report: Official visit of the Office of the SRSG-SVC to Israel and the occupied West Bank" 29 January – 14 February 2024 - PDF link:  https://news.un.org/en/sites/news.un.org.en/files/atoms/files/Mission_report_of_SRSG_SVC_to_Israel-oWB_29Jan_14_feb_2024.pdf

Press release: ‘Clear and convincing information’ that hostages held in Gaza subjected to sexual violence, says UN Special Representative - UN News, 4 March, 2024 - https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147217

The UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, "following a 17-day visit to Israel ... reported on Monday that she and a team of experts had found “clear and convincing information” of rape and sexualized torture being committed against hostages seized during the 7 October terror attacks" and also "reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred in multiple locations" during the October 7 attacks themselves. The latter is something I've analyzed here in some detail: Monitor on Massacre Marketing: Words Without Truth: How the New York Times Helped Netanyahu Weaponize Sexual Violence Allegations Against the People of Gaza

It's worth noting how, in 2022, Ms. Paten was caught laundering Ukrainian claims (seemingly recycled from Libya, 2011) that Russian troops were issued a Viagra equivalent to enhance their systematic rape of Ukrainian women. She passed this on as fact, but later admitted it likely wasn't true, and how she was handed these claims and did little or nothing to verify them. "I have an advocacy mandate," she explained. "My role is not to investigate.” Others at the UN did the investigating, and "in their reports so far, there’s nothing about Viagra." 

As then, Paten's mission to Israel "was not investigative in nature." It "was not intended to be, and is not a substitute for, an investigation by relevant United Nations entities mandated for that purpose, nor is it a replacement for criminal investigations and proceedings subject to due process of law." [25] The report also notes "the absence of United Nations entities operating in Israel, as well as the lack of cooperation by the State of Israel with relevant United Nations bodies with an investigative mandate." [55]

Press release: "Ms. Patten’s recommendations include a call for the Israeli Government to grant full access to the UN human rights office (OHCHR) and the Human Rights Council-mandated independent Commission of Inquiry on the occupied territory “to conduct fully-fledged independent investigations into all alleged violations.” 

But so far, they haven't done these things. Instead, it seems Israel only wanted some "advocacy" from "the Viagra lady," as they might have seen it, the one with no power to actually investigate. Interesting. 

But it should be noted that the Mission did apply at least some scrutiny to some of the provided information, even discounting some claims. It could be called an investigation, but technically it isn't. What they collect could be called evidence, but they call it "information." It's handled less formally, and ... something. I don't fully get the distinctions here, but it's discussed in the press conference (video at the top link). Their findings have less authority than those of a proper investigation, for one thing. 

Report Content: Still "No Medical, No Video - Just Words"

The report claims to draw on the mission's 33 meetings with "Israeli representatives," 34 "confidential interviews including with survivors and witnesses of the 7 October attacks, released hostages, first responders and others," and their "examining more than 5,000 photographic images and 50 hours of video footage." Due to the Israeli refusal to cooperate with the UN probes, "information gathered by the mission team was in a large part sourced from Israeli national institutions." [55] 

Right: Paten in Israel, next to Yossi Landau, southern region director of rescue group ZAKA, and a major producer of October 7 atrocity hoaxes (Israel MFA via Electronic Intifada)

The mission heard about alleged Israeli abuses of Palestinians in the West bank since October 7, including threats of rape, beatings in the genitals, unwanted touching, and "inappropriate strip search and prolonged forced nudity." They were not in verification mode for these reports, and made no visit to the Gaza war zone. The report notes that other UN agencies are working on these aspects, and of course they were never the subject of the Israeli pressures that prompted this mission.

The external focus has been on alleged abuses of Israelis by Palestinians, on October 7 and since. As the report concludes, the mission found "clear and convincing information that some hostages taken to Gaza have been subjected to various forms of conflict-related sexual violence," and they had "reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing." This was "based on the first-hand accounts of released hostages," with no supporting evidence mentioned (not that much would be expected).

Released hostages Mia Schem and Agam Goldstein-Almog have given evidence for rape (of someone else), or a culture of it (barely restrained by a jealous wife) under Hamas captivity. But both did so after first speaking in a much different tone, or giving different details, and failing to mention or even hint at this dark side. Other former hostages have said they witnessed someone else being raped or the like, with no differing accounts to contrast. But that doesn't mean they are any more truthful. 

None of them are absolutely, necessarily false, but at least some hostage accounts are quite dubious, and it's quite possible all of them are concocted under pressure - external or internal - from the same "Israeli representatives" pressing for and guiding this UN mission. 

As for October 7 itself, the mission was able to "verify" at least one "incident of the rape of a woman outside of a bomb shelter" but heard "other allegations of rape that could not yet be verified." [13] Perhaps the one case was "verified" as in proven true, and perhaps other cases sit fully ready to join it. But by and large, it seems this comes from a policy of giving supposed witnesses the benefit of the doubt wherever it's possible, not just where it's warranted. It's almost like this is some UN Human Rights mandate - a supposed witness can NEVER lie, unless that winds up undeniably, 100% proven.  

October 7 rape claims are reasonably believable, according to the UN mission, "based on the examination of available information, including credible statements by eyewitnesses" and nothing else they mention. [58] It's not clear how they define a witness statement as "credible," but so far the public has only heard from the other kind. And regarding those they worked with...

"It must be noted that witnesses and sources with whom the mission team engaged adopted over time an increasingly cautious and circumspect approach regarding past accounts, including in some cases retracting statements made previously. Some also stated to the mission team that they no longer felt confident in their recollections of other assertions that had appeared in the media." [64]

Some witnesses changed their stories after theirs and others' were exposed as lies. Indeed, that must be noted.

The report does not mention any autopsies or medical evidence they saw to support the rape claims. It still seems Israel never gathered such evidence at all, perhaps for fear of discovering a negative answer.

The mission's call is also based on no video evidence: "no digital evidence specifically depicting acts of sexual violence was found in open sources" [77] and "in the medicolegal assessment of available photos and videos" - including those provided by Israeli sources - "no tangible indications of rape could be identified." [74] In "5,000 photographic images and 50 hours of video footage," including from Hamas body cameras, there was ZERO "tangible indications of rape" the mission could find. And they tried. So have the Israelis, and they give no indication of having found anything either. 

As I noted before; it's not that this stuff definitely never happened, but it seemingly never happened in front of a camera, which would be odd given the alleged scale of the abuse. It leaves wide open the possibility that all these "credible" but shifting accounts are simply lies.

Some Specific Claims Addressed

"The medicolegal assessment of available photos and videos revealed multiple corpses with injuries, predominantly gunshot wounds, including to intimate body parts such as breasts and genitalia. Because in most instances additional injuries were also seen on other body parts, no discernible pattern of genital mutilation could be established. [76] That's what I was asking, and what Schwartz and crew for the New York Times refused to consider when they wrote of "a video, provided by the Israeli military, showing two dead Israeli soldiers at a base near Gaza who appeared to have been shot directly in their vaginas." I added these injuries were "perhaps among other shots to every part of the body, or perhaps in the targeted way they suggest." The UN Mission found that, for the most part, these were just incidental parts of some body-wide shooting. 

They also considered the reports of a woman found, bound on a bed with a "sharp object" or "knife" left in her vagina, or as the Times put it, citing a provided photo, with "dozens of nails driven into her thighs and groin." All agree she was found in a home in Be'eri that was explosively collapsed, but they agree that had nothing to do with her injuries. In contrast to the Times' reporters, the UN mission found this claim "could not be verified by the mission team due in large part to the limited availability and low quality of imagery." [65] 

They heard from "other credible sources" about women, especially around the Nova music festival, partly or totally naked, "with some gunshots in the head and/or tied including with their hands bound behind their backs and tied to structures such as trees or poles.[58] "The mission team was also able to ascertain that multiple bodies of women and a few men were found totally or partially naked or with their clothes torn, including some bound and/or attached to structures, which – though circumstantial – may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence." [60]

Some went to the rave almost naked and were later found dressed just the same way. Charred, mutilated bodies with torn clothing may indicate Hamas violence or Israeli tank or helicopter fire, which is now understood to kill an unclear but significant number of civilians. Some victims might wind up flung against and then "attached to" some structures, for example. Otherwise, maybe these images (which we haven't seen) do show the results of Hamas raping women and even men, during some breaks in the fighting. Or it seems quite possible some ZAKA types, who would have more time on their hands, stripped some bodies and tied them up to look that way. 

Paragraph 14 and 65 combined explain: "The mission team conducted a visit to kibbutz Be’eri and was able to determine that at least two allegations of sexual violence widely repeated in the media, were unfounded due to either new superseding information or inconsistency in the facts gathered ...  including first responder testimonies, photographic evidence and other information." 

The "sharp objects" claim above is a third claim from Be'eri they could neither confirm nor refute. But they were forced to dismiss these other two claims.

Paragraph 65 continues to specify "the allegation of a pregnant woman whose womb had reportedly been ripped open before she was killed, with her fetus stabbed while still inside her."  It's not explained how they discounted this story, almost as if it were fit to dismiss out-of-hand. And it probably is, but it seems to fall under "inconsistency in the facts gathered" - one of two reasons given to discount two claims. 

This bizarre claim was originally lodged, it seems, by ZAKA's Yossi Landau (to Paten's left in the photo above), and has been debunked by Ha'aretz and others, including (and especially well) by myself, based on inconsistent facts. Most note that no pregnant woman was reportedly killed on October 7, making for an easy case. I was able to add a later report of one pregnant woman that was reportedly killed, and she fit some reported details of this story (aged ~30 & 4 months pregnant), but with a different true story; she was killed randomly in a grenade attack at a roadside shelter after fleeing the Nova rave. She was not slaughtered at a house in Be'eri, where she did not live, nor in front of children that weren't even born yet (that was to be her first). 

Paragraph 65 continues to the second refuted allegation: 

"Another such account was the interpretation initially made of the body of a girl found separated from the rest of her family, naked from the waist down. It was determined by the mission team that the crime scene had been altered by a bomb squad and the bodies moved, explaining the separation of the body of the girl from the rest of her family." 

The Sharabi Girls: Who was Where?

Here we must pause. This almost surely refers to one of the Sharabi sisters, Yahel (13) or Noiya (16), and probably to Yahel. Both were REPORTEDLY seen as apparent rape victims, in the only scene remotely similar to this that has been reported. But in most versions, there were two girls found. 

Military paramedic "G" has claimed to several sources he saw the bodies of two girls in a bedroom, separated from any parents or guardians. One was face-down on the floor with "pajama pants pulled to her knees, bottom exposed, semen smeared on her back," alongside another girl on the bed, with "boxer shorts ripped, bruises by her groin." [NYT] The Times report found these girls had the same ages (13 and 16) as the only sisters reportedly killed in Be'eri, Yahel and Noiya Sharabi.

This paramedic's story is challenged, but in two different ways. One of these versions can hardly be true, but neither can be discounted just yet. 

First, some reports cited by the Gray Zone, then the Intercept, and seemingly supported by the girls' grandparents, have the girls dying in the embrace of their mother, not separated and raped.

The GrayZone cited The Times of Israel:  "Family said that the bodies of the three women, who all held dual UK-Israeli citizenship, were found in an embrace." But for what it's worth, the only family they mention hearing from is "Lianne’s parents, Gill and Pete Brisley."

A BBC report along these lines also heard, exclusively, from the grandparents in Bristol, and they heard this exclusively from "a soldier" who says he found the girls: "Mrs Brisley said they later found out the bodies of their daughter and grandchildren had been found by a soldier "all cuddled together with Lianne doing what a mother would do - holding her babies in her arms, trying to protect them at the end". 

The Intercept would later add how all 3 ladies “were just shot — nothing else had been done to them," according to "their grandmother Gillian Brisley," speaking to Israeli Channel 12. “They were found between the ‘mamad’” — the house’s safe room — “and the dining room and it’s an awful thing to say, they were just shot — nothing else had been done to them. They were shot,” said Gillian Brisley. “A soldier said he saw our daughter” — the girls’ mother — “but she was covering the two girls and they were shot,” added her husband, Pete, the girls’ grandfather." 

Again, this is what the soldier told the grandparents. For all we know, he may be the same soldier/paramedic G, giving them and the outside world two different stories. Or perhaps it's another soldier. But no matter how many sources the claim gets repeated to, it remains questionable, considering there's another version backed, it seems, by the new UN report.

The Intercept, referring to the girls only by initial, noted how "N was initially reported missing for two weeks because her body had yet to be formally identified." This refers to the alternate version where the older sister, Noiya, was considered missing and possibly kidnapped, ten days after the massacre. 

The Sun (UK tabloid), October 17, speaking with family members and visiting the home, reported "It has been confirmed Yahel died alongside her mum Lianne while her sister Noiya, 16, dad Eli, 51 and uncle Yossi, 53 were missing or kidnapped." No third body, identified or not, is mentioned as being found in their home. I had read this as excluding her from the house - she was somewhere else, perhaps abducted to another house with others, where they were killed alongside their captors. But perhaps she was here the whole time and they just thought that was someone else's body?

The Sun: "A hallway where a huge blackened smear of blood appears to be the spot where Lianne died. And upstairs, another bloodstain tells its horror story in a room where Yahel slept — heavily staining the carpet close to a pair of pink pyjamas and vanity case." There's some blood visible on the floor, or at least on a rug edge (?) and some light blue cloth there, despite it being kept mainly off-frame.

Noiya was finally identified a few days after The Sun report, on October 22 (Guardian) or 10/23 (Jewish News).

When he spoke to Republic TV (India), on or by October 25, G might have hinted that one of his "girls" was - or had been - missing (Eylon Levy posting). He specifies "2 girls," but mainly ignores one to focus on "the girl" who was "laying on her bed - on the floor" (correcting himself), left to lie "in the blood of her ... in a pile/puddle of blood." Was he about to say "the blood of her sister," but realized she wouldn't be there? If so, why include her in the scene at all? And either way, it's his later accounts (CNN & NYT in December) that he's plenty clear on both victims being teenage girls, and both being in this room. So maybe I just imagined those clues.

The girls' uncle, Sharon Sharabi, does not come down clearly supporting either story. He told The Intercept “To tell you concretely what happened in Be’eri, or what happened at the house of the Sharabi family, I don’t have an answer for you ... There is certainly no credible information I can give you, only testimonies of ZAKA or of military personnel who arrived at the scene first and saw the atrocities. So any information I might give you is information that I’m not confident about, and therefore I would rather not give it [at all].” 

"He added, “I’ve heard all the versions. What’s the truth? I don’t know.” Sharabi emphasized that he firmly believes there was widespread sexual violence committed during the attacks of October 7," but he won't endorse unreliable information from ZAKA or the IDF. And this is why uncle Sharon doesn't write for the New York Times. 

The rest of us should feel no better informed than he is, and maintain an open mind, for what it's worth, regarding what happened in that house that day.

Kibbutz Be'eri spokesperson Michal Paikin also denied the rape(s), telling The Intercept “the Sharabi girls ... were shot and were not subjected to sexual abuse.” But Paikin did not address this controversy of who was found where.

Finally, the UN report seems to support the sidelined "Sun" version; that a single girl was "found separated from the rest of her family" is presented as a fact, which they have a specific explanation for: "the crime scene had been altered by a bomb squad and the bodies moved, explaining the separation of the body of the girl from the rest of her family." 

Was she found with the others, then moved, and later found separate? But not the other sister? Did they just infer that, or is this based on relevant, factual details they learned? Two reasons are given for dismissing two claims, and this one seem to be due to "new superseding information." New information. Let's take careful note.

And let's ask WHY would a bomb squad be moving bodies around? Does a girl's corpse need carried upstairs before you can be sure there's no tripwire attached?

So now the girl is said to be alone, her sister still downstairs or missing somewhere else. There's still no great reason to believe G's description that included two girls, but let's consider, as this semi-informed new report also states as fact the one was found "naked from the waist down." A story including that also has what seemed to be semen smeared on her backside, in that position. This would mean she - or her body - was raped in that room. And if this rape came after her body was moved there, for whatever reason, by members of an Israeli bomb squad... it might suggest someone on that team, or someone they cover for, raped the girl's corpse. 

One question about the claim arises: If Yahel's body was moved upstairs from an original spot, it seems unlikely that much blood would it shed on the floor upstairs; once the heart stops beating, bodies only bleed passively. 

OR if the other version is true, and she was always cuddled with her mother and unidentified sister downstairs, then whose blood is that visibly on the floor upstairs? Maybe neither story is true, the room is where Yahel was killed, with no cuddling but also no rape.

In that case, the bomb squad story was ... some kind of misunderstanding? It's an awkward story, but it might help cover for an even worse one. Let's consider what if a rescuer with ZAKA or some elite military unit had assaulted the girl's corpse, and this became known to Israeli officials. They might want to back off the rape claim entirely, in the most convenient way - cite that mother's embrace story one of their soldiers originally told. But if they also knew the same body was seen upstairs alone, they might  choose to suggest mother's embrace, so no rape, then moved upstairs and still no rape - obviously, since Hamas was long gone by then. They would be throwing the paramedic's account under the bus, but it seems to be there already, so why not? Then maybe a bomb squad seemed like the best explanation for that move. Although the supposed reasoning isn't clear, I also can't think of anything better.  

Side-note: State of bodies

“Lianne and Yahel could only be identified through DNA samples. Noiya was identified through her teeth only two days ago.”

https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/we-just-buried-a-mother-and-two-daughters-when-the-father-is-missing-i-feel-this-is-a-second-holocaust/

Uncle Sharon Sharabi gave it the other way around, speaking to The Intercept: “Lianne and [Y] were only identified through dental records, and [N] by DNA,” he said. 

Either way, this suggests their bodies were in a poor state that's not clearly explained. Max Blumenthal wondered at the GrayZone "if their bodies were, in fact, burned beyond recognition" and, if so, "how was the paramedic “G” able to detect semen on one of the girls, and bruises on the other, and view their states of undress"? But for what it's worth, in the Sun's photos, the home doesn't appear badly damaged or burned, so that may not be the explanation. This remains another open question about this case.

Israel "Bringing Home" its Hostages - in Caskets

January 29, 2024

Adds on 2/3, Big adds Feb. 11-13

The Israeli Defense Forces continues its massive violence in Gaza aimed at eradicating Hamas and finding the remaining Israeli hostages to "bring them all home." Going on four months in, they claim one successful rescue. 

Private Ori Megidish, a lookout soldier from Nahal Oz Base, was reportedly rescued on early in the offensive, on October 30. It wasn't clear if she was actually rescued or willingly released. An initial IDF statement said Megidish was “released,” but that was a "translation error," they said - she was “actively rescued." (CNN) Israeli MFA spokesperson Yaari Cohen later said the supposed rescue provided "hope to millions of Israelis that more hostages can be released." 

Four days before that rescue, on October 26, Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades announced that Israel had killed “almost 50 captives” in missile and air strikes. (The Gray Zone) This has never been proven, confirmed, or agreed, but it might well be true - Israel got a solid start to "freeing" the hostages by killing some 20% of them in the first weeks. Other cases we'll consider below all postdate this possible total and would add to it. 

Interestingly, pvt. Megidish was missing from initial listings of those kidnapped, according to some observers, until she was added on the day of her rescue. (Hala Jaber). An oddity: a terrorist computer found in al-Shifa hospital had a public photo of pvt. Megidish as its wallpaper. "Why would this PC only contain one picture of a “single rescued Israeli soldier” which was earlier captured and brought to Gaza." https://twitter.com/ytirawi/status/1724881517082525860 Maybe she was never captured, and the photo was brought in to make some kind of case for that? I'm still not sure what to make of that or what it was even meant to signify, but it seems like a strange coincidence.

The Megidish case might have given people hope, but if that didn't fall flat from the strange details, it would be deflated after the following weeks of Israel's brutal destruction of the same Gaza the hostages were sheltered in. Aside from the one case, they've apparently rescued no hostages, but it seems they've killed quite a few. 

Some 240+ hostages were originally tallied. Some 109 were released by Hamas before December 16, when CNN reported "132 captives were believed to still in Gaza, of whom 112 were thought to still be alive." But since then, the IDF had accidentally killed three, so it was 129 held, 109 of them alive =  20 dead. (CNN) January 15, Times of Israel: "It is believed that 132 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November. Four hostages were released prior to that, and one was rescued by troops. The bodies of eight hostages have also been recovered and three hostages were mistakenly killed by the military. The Israel Defense Forces has confirmed the deaths of 25 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza."

Tallies will vary a bit with small details I don't know, but let's compare mid-December and mid-January. 132-25=107 still alive - just 2 less than a month earlier (109 on Dec. 16). 25 dead vs. 20 = up five. Below, I count six hostages likely killed by the IDF in that span. They may be responsible for all the added deaths.

The website https://oct7map.com/ currently lists 112 hostages released alive by Hamas - mainly during grudgingly-agreed cease-fires - and 138 still held, assumed alive or not confirmed as dead. The site lists at least 24 hostages specified as "Murdered in Captivity." We'll exclude one (Ilan Weiss) who was assumed kidnapped then reported dead, but he was actually found at his home, killed on October 7. That leaves 23. With the others listed, that gives a suggested total of at least 274 original hostages - more than the 240 or so first reported.

Of these 23, half of them - 11 - were likely killed in known IDF actions, with reasons to suspect that already published. The deadly actions include at least 2 airstrikes, a botched rescue effort, a tunnel attack on Hamas leaders (perhaps with toxic gas), and hostages directly surrendering to the IDF who were shot dead instead of taken home.

One hostage - Guy Illouz - was noted as killed by medical neglect (and with sanctions, etc. that might be partly the IDF's fault). note 2/3: Judith/Yehudit Weiss also "was a cancer patient, and after her abduction, her family expressed concern for her health, assuming she would not receive the necessary medical treatment while in captivity."  And then she might die, or be "murdered," as listed.  https://nachamuami.com/fallen/yehudit-weiss/ 

The other half -  also 11 - are unclear. Some were elderly and likely died from other medical issues, including limitations imposed on all Humans currently stuck in Gaza. The rest, like the other 11, are listed and/or reported as killed by Hamas, but may have been killed in other IDF strikes - no details were given in most cases. As far as I see, there are no proven Hamas executions among the 23. 

Add 2/3: Soldier Naama Levy has not been "murdered" that we know of, but she may have been seen lightly injured after an Israeli attack in late November. https://twitter.com/MatamalasJ/status/1736431066188013571

If, as al-Qassam claimed, "almost 50" hostages - say ~47 - were killed in IDF attacks by late October, this 11 would make for at least ~58 killed in IDF actions or otherwise following in the assault and sanctions. The other 11 could make for ~69 - with perhaps others unreported or lost in the shuffle. Just 106 or so are thought to remain alive, and that's probably high. And again, none of them have been rescued aside from the one dubious case. 

As Udi Goren, whose cousin was killed by Hamas, told CNN “The ground invasion" - all the killing in the name of rescuing the hostages - "is killing the hostages.” (CNN) So far, at the immense cost to Gazan civilians and some IDF troops, the hostages only come home in caskets. 

But in a related development, Gaza is getting quite flat and unlivable, as have the bodies of some 20-30,000 Gazans. Considering that and all the other pros and cons, it seems worth continuing the war - likely through all of 2024 (BBC). Maybe after another 10,000 children are killed the hostages can all brought home, and perhaps a handful of them can even come home alive. But even if none of them does, maybe 100,000 will be killed in Gaza, and the rest may all have to "voluntarily" relocate in order to survive, so to some minds it will seem well worth the effort.

23 Total "Murdered in Captivity"

name - location - notes ("murdered" = no further details I know of)

1 Inbar Haiman - Music Festival - "murdered"

2 Guy Illouz - Music Festival - "murdered due to intentional prevention of proper medical care"

3 Elia Toledano - Music Festival - "murdered"  likely in 12/14 IDF tunnel attack

4 Yossi Sharabi - Be'eri - "murdered" after IDF strike in mid-January

5 Yonatan Samerano - Be'eri - "murdered"

6 Itay Svirski - Be'eri - "murdered" after IDF strike in mid-January

7 Sahar Baruch - Be'eri - "murdered" during IDF rescue effort Dec 8

8 Ofra Kedar - Be'eri - "murdered"

9 Judith Weiss - Be'eri - "murdered" - cancer patient - found near Shifa hospital when Cpl. Marciano was found, spurring Israel's mass-removal of bodies 

10 Eitan Levy - Be'eri - "murdered" after IDF strike in mid-January 

11 Alon Lulu Shamriz - Kfar Aza - "murdered" accidentally by IDF after escaping captivity, 12/15

12 Yotam Haim - Kfar Aza - "murdered" accidentally by IDF after escaping captivity, 12/15

13 Ronen Engel - Nir Oz - "murdered"

14 Eliyahu Margalit - Nir Oz - "murdered"

15 Gadi Haggai - Nir Oz - "murdered"

16 Maya Goren - Nir Oz - "murdered"

17 Judy W'stein Haggai Nir Oz - "murdered"

18 Arye Zalmanovich - Nir Oz - "murdered"

19 Cpl. Noa Marciano - Nahal Oz base - "murdered" at Shifa hospital "quickly" after injury in IDF strike, 11/9 - body found near hosp. when Judith Weiss was found

20 Joshua Mollel - Nahal Oz - "murdered"

21 Samar Fouad Talalka - Nir Am - "murdered" accidentally by IDF after escaping captivity, 12/15

22 Ron Scherman - COGAT Base - "murdered"  likely in 12/14 IDF tunnel attack

23 Nik Beizer - COGAT Base - "murdered" likely in 12/14 IDF tunnel attack

In a picture:

Sources (by incident date):

November 9 strike on Noa Marciano's captor but not on her - 11/17: Body of second Israeli hostage found near Shifa Hospital in Gaza: IDF | National Post "On Monday night, Hamas released a video of Marciano that the Israel Defense Forces described as “psychological terror.” The video claimed that Marciano was killed in an airstrike in Gaza." 

https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1726368486027403419

"On November 9, CPL Noa Marciano was injured from an IAF strike and the terrorist holding her hostage was neutralized. Following a preliminary pathological report, it was revealed that Noa’s injury was not life-threatening." These injuries are not described. Then, they say, "Noa was murdered by a Hamas terrorist in the Shifa Hospital." because it's absurd to think the same IDF strike that killed her captor could also kill her. And they took her to the hospital - that's a dead giveaway that they planned to murder her. 

The fatal injuries, added to the unclear injuries from the strike, were described (1st source): “After analyzing the footage, experts suggest that her injuries do not align with those typically sustained in airstrikes,” the IDF said in a statement. “The observed wounds appear more consistent with bullet injuries, and there is also an indication that she may have suffered from injuries related to a fall from a height.” So she was quickly shot all over and dropped from a height once they had her in the hospital? That's not the most likely, but it's implied these injuries appeared AFTER the airstrike injuries, which they don't describe - since they don't seem to be from an airstrike. That should be all you need to know to understand these were later, execution-related injuries. Why did they need to consider if they were from some other airstrike? Or are they talking about the same injuries allegedly from their own attack? Did she suffer those supposedly atypical injuries in their strike, and are those - as far as they know - the same injuries she died from? If so, why does their being atypical matter? In other words, they seem to be dissembling badly.

IDF rescue effort Dec 8: Sahar Baruch from Be'eri was killed. A botched hostage rescue was reported Dec. 8 - 2 soldiers were badly wounded and, sadly, no hostages rescued - but some kidnappers were killed, and definitely no hostages were killed (the possibility wasn't even mentioned). (Times of Israel)

Later: Jan. 3 Hostage Sahar Baruch killed during rescue attempt a month ago, IDF says | The Times of Israel "The IDF has notified the family of hostage Sahar Baruch that he was killed during a failed attempt to rescue him from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip on December 8. The military says it is unable to determine the cause of death at this stage, and it is unknown if Baruch was murdered by Hamas or killed by Israeli fire. Hamas at the time claimed that Baruch was killed by the IDF, publishing footage of his body." Hamas executed him during the IDF effort to free him. If only the IDF had gotten there sooner ... Or was that not a coincidence? Did the attack provoked Hamas to kill him, or ... he was one of the "kidnappers" initially reported killed? 

Aviva Klompas on X 12/8: "The video released today ends by showing his tortured and mutilated body. Rather than screaming for the release of the hostages who are enduring untold evils, the world wants Israel to retreat. There can be no ceasefire until all the hostages are released and the Hamas war machine is destroyed." The IDF needs to go in there, guns blazing, or else these murders will never be stopped. Could he not see the possible connection to the day's failed raid and think to temper such comments? Most likely she could see that and was operating from an aggressive defiance of reality, fully expecting to win over reality in the end.

December 14 tunnel attack: Jan. 17, Jerusalem Post via MSN: "The IDF could not confirm the cause of death of killed Gaza hostages Ron Sherman and Nick Beiser, the military confirmed in a Wednesday statement. Their bodies were retrieved from a Hamas tunnel by the IDF in Jabalya on December 14, 2023, together with the body of Elia Toledano. ... Close to where the bodies were found, the IDF attacked a tunnel in which the commander of the northern division of Gaza, Ahmad Al Ghandour, was killed. The investigation shows that at the time of the attack, the IDF did not know about the presence of hostages in the area. Also, the forces who found their bodies during searches in the tunnel did not have prior intelligence about their presence." 

"Ron Sherman’s mother, Maya, published a post yesterday in which she accused the IDF of mistakingly [sic] killing her son. “The results of the investigation: Ron was indeed murdered,” she wrote. “Not by Hamas. Think more in the direction of Auschwitz and the showers but without Nazis and without Hamas as the cause. No accidental shooting, no report, premeditated murder, bombings with poisonous gases.” According to her, the IDF filled the tunnel in which he was held with gas, and [her] son was poisoned to death."

Her full reasoning can't be assessed, but here's some commentary she added: 

“Ron was kidnapped because of the criminal negligence of all the senior officials of the army and the damned government who gave the order to eliminate him in order to settle a score with some terrorist from Jabalya.” The mother claimed that “they found that he also had several crushed fingers, apparently due to his desperate attempts to get out of the poison grave that the IDF buried in him when he tried to breathe air, but he only breathed IDF poison. There is no future for this country if this is what they did to you after they abandoned you that Saturday. What was the decision if Bibi’s son was there in the terrorist’s tunnel or Gallant’s grandson? Or the son of Hertzi Halevi? Would they also have been poisoned with gas bombs?”

On the 12/14 strike - The Messenger via MSN: Top Hamas Commander Who Survived Two Assassination Attempts Killed in Israeli Airstrike (msn.com) - no mention of any chemical weapons employed in the operation. 

Before, October 26, Former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal: "We have information from trusted sources that the [US's] plan with Israel is to send special American/Israeli forces, administered by the US and executed either by Israel or combined [US and Israel] to... use nerve gases, aiming to paralyse the capabilities of Palestinian soldiers in the tunnels and trenches without killing him so they do not kill the hostages or captives held in these tunnels," he said. (Middle East Eye ) But this wouldn't explain hostages in the tunnels dying. 

Sponge bombs? This came up at the same time. In itself, the stuff is dangerous to the eyes, but otherwise non-toxic. Does Israel Really Have 'Sponge Bombs' For Sealing Tunnels? (thedrive.com) Nothing meant to kill has been publicly discussed. But a tunnel sealed with sponge material might become extra lethal if any kind of gas was then poured in. We also know they've flooded some tunnels with sea water. As far as I know, that's what they did here.  

"Also, on December 12, 2023, the IDF recovered the bodies of Aden [Eden] Zakaria and Ziv Dado from the same area." (Jerusalem Post via MSN) Both are now thought to be killed on 10/7, bodies kidnapped to Gaza for later exchange. But both were considered missing until found dead. Were they actually kidnapped alive and then killed in this same incident, or another incident related to the same assault? I've seen no details like the state of decay they were in when found. 

December 15 IDF Shooting: Truly appalling - Alon Shimriz and Yotam Haim from Kfar Aza, along with Samer Talalka kidnapped near Nir Am, were somehow free and wandering Shejaya under Israel's bombing and then ground assault. We don't even know the story they would tell about how they escaped captivity before they found fellow Israelis, approaching the IDF soldiers cautiously with a white flag. The soldiers apparently saw a ruse and opened fire, killing 2 (unclear which) and wounding the third. He hid and cried for help in Hebrew. The shooting stopped, then somehow resumed, and the third guy was also killed. The IDF just cannot get these people back home alive, even when they escape on their own and even when they do that AND survive the first round of inexplicable shooting. There just has to be another round of shooting. (you should know this story - CNN just in case)

January 15 IDF airstrike: Killed on or around Jan. 15 after an IDF airstrike: Yossi Sharabi, 51 and Itay Svirsky, 38, from Be'eri. Eitan Levy was also killed. Details left unresolved on my end.  

A posts on the Jan. 15 Hamas video - https://twitter.com/OliLondonTV/status/1746998477593203160: an injured Noa Argamani says an IDF airstrike killed Sharabi and Svirsky. But Oli notes "one of the men appears to have died from a severe head wound with the other showing signs of strangulation- pointing to Hamas being responsible for their deaths. It comes after the terror group released a video game style propaganda video asking viewers to guess which hostages were alive or dead."

January 15, Times of Israel - via MSN: IDF fears for the lives of the 2 men after seeing the video where they seem dead. 

"IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Monday evening that Hamas’s claim that the military targeted a building where the three hostages were being held, killing two of them, was a lie. However, he indicated that it was possible that the hostages were located close to a building that was targeted by the IDF and may have been endangered." “Itay was not killed by our forces. This is a Hamas lie,” Hagari said. “The building where they were held was not a target and was not attacked by our forces.” They know this because “We did not know their exact location in real-time. We do not strike where we know there are hostages. In retrospect, we know that we attacked targets close to the location where they were held,” Hagari said, adding that the IDF was investigating the footage in the propaganda clip published by Hamas.

They won't strike unless they know the hostages aren't there - but they don't know where they were - it's "possible" they were in a nearby building. Actually, "in retrospect, we know" they were in a nearby building, but they aren't sure which one or how nearby. Couldn't they also be in the same building? Sure, but they didn't know that, and "the IDF do not strike where we know there are hostages." So if the IDF killed them, it was accidental, and the Hamas claim that the IDF accidentally killed them is a terrorist lie.

Add 2/11: Noa claims on video: F-16 strike, 3 rockets, 2 of which exploded. Only Yossi was killed then; Noa and Itay survived, were relocated, but Itay was killed by another IDF airstrike at that time. Between the two strikes, Noa says she suffered shrapnel injuries to the head and body. She also notes that food and water are running low.  https://t.me/resistmirror1/2996

Hagari "said ... Hamas’s claim that the military targeted a building where the three hostages were being held, killing two of them, was a lie. ... “Itay was not killed by our forces. This is a Hamas lie.” If the unstated part is: "we only killed Yossi then. Itay came later," then he agrees with Hamas and Noa, wordplay aside.  

Add 2/11: Eitan Levy died separately and much earlier - before Dec. 8. Not sure how he got mixed in with these reports.  

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israel-confirms-oct-7-death-of-be-eri-resident-dror-kaplun-with-archaeologists-help/ar-AA1lbCk2

"On Friday the Bat Yam municipality said Eitan Levy was dead. He was previously considered a hostage in Gaza. The municipality said it was informed Thursday night by the IDF that Levy was no longer alive. His body is held in Gaza. It was not clear how and when Levy was murdered."

Adds Feb. 11: 

Some listed as kidnapped and still alive, likely aren't, including an infant and a toddler. Embarrassingly, I had missed this story when it came up, and when I assembled this post. 

Nov 29: Hamas says 10-month-old hostage Kfir Bibas was killed in Israeli bombing, alongside his brother, Ariel (4), and their mother, Shiri, in earlier bombing. This was to explain why they weren't among those released at the time. But "Israeli authorities on Tuesday said they believed the family had been handed over by Hamas to another Palestinian militant group in a possible complication of efforts to free them." https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/29/hamas-says-10-month-old-hostage-kfir-bibas-was-killed-in-israeli-bombing

As of mid-February there's been no further news to challenge the Hamas claim, and these hostages have likely been dead for some time now. They're likely included in the ~50 early deaths, but add to the 11 considered above, for 14 likely killed in known IDF operations. But that's still not accepted, as people demand Kfir be brought home, and Oct7map lists "Yarden, Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, the entire Bibas family, were all kidnapped by Hamas. Bring them home." From Nir Oz. Father Yarden was likely kept separately and likely survived, at least to then. 

I think these 2 children are the only ones Hamas still allegedly refuses to release. If so, note they already explained why they cannot ever release them, and as far as we can tell it's true.

One listed as just "murdered" was apparently killed in captivity - Ofir Tzarfati, 27 was abducted from the Nova party. He was reportedly severely wounded. "He was believed to have been kidnapped for over 50 days; it was only after his family received the devastating news that he had been murdered. A few days later, the IDF has retrieved his body in a special operation inside Gaza." https://oct7map.com/OfirTzarfati

Dec. 2: his family "was informed on Thursday that he was murdered by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip." He likely died from his severe injury and lack of medical options, but that's just a guess. https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/israel-news/2243758/idf-recovers-captives-body-confirms-deaths-of-6-captives-in-gaza.html 

2 new deaths reported Feb. 11: Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip during the past 96 hours have killed two Israeli hostages and seriously injured eight others, Hamas's armed-wing Al Qassam Brigades announced on Sunday over the group's Telegram channel.

"Their conditions are becoming more dangerous in light of the inability to provide them with appropriate treatment.(Israel) bears full responsibility for the lives of those injured in light of their continued bombing," the statement said." Identities not provided.

That makes 16 and likely to grow. "Israel’s chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday that 31 of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were dead." That's up 6 since a month ago, up 11 from mid-December - probably not counting these 2 new deaths.

اليوم الـ 128.. القسام يؤكد مقتل أسيرين وإصابة 8 آخرين : كتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام (alqassam.ps)

https://www.arabnews.jp/en/middle-east/article_115008/

France 24 live updates for the 11th relate the claims of new deaths and notes, on the same day "Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in an interview aired on Sunday that "enough" of the 132 remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza are alive to justify Israel's ongoing war in the region." "We're going to try to do our best to get all those who are alive back and, frankly, also the bodies of the dead," he said in the interview with ABC's "This Week" programme." As long as this many remain alive, Israel will keep on killing them, refusing any ceasefire or concession even to save their lives, fearing that it would also spare Palestinian lives. https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20240211-%F0%9F%94%B4-live-netanyahu-pledges-safe-passage-to-palestinian-civilians-ahead-of-rafah-operation

Add 2/12: Qassam brigades says three of the injured 8 hostages have now died. That would make 5 more killed. They're waiting to see who else dies before releasing the names and final statuses.  "The Al-Qassam Brigades announce the killing of 3 of the eight Zionist detainees who we announced yesterday were seriously injured in the barbaric Zionist raids on the Gaza Strip. We will postpone announcing the names and photos of the dead for days to come until the fate of the rest of the wounded becomes clear." https://t.me/resistmirror1/3927

Feb. 13 add: Two Rescued! 

Just after the above updates, I saw the big news - Israel claims to have rescued two hostages in Rafah and got them home alive, without making any deal with Hamas, and in fact killing some of their fighters, along with quite a few civilians. The rescued were named as Fernando Simon Marman (60) and Louis Har (70), who were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. 

As luck would have it, Israel's actionable intel and opportunity came just as they aired a Superbowl ad about bringing home hostage dads. And these two fathers had Argentinian nationality. Argentina's bizarre new Libertarian-Fascist and highly pro-Israel president Javier Milei had just visited Israel on Feb. 9, urging the release of all Israeli hostages, including the 11 Argentinians believed to be held. "Milei said he would work to bring about the release of all the hostages, regardless of nationality: “There are Argentine nationals among the hostages as well, but this is a crime against humanity, and this must be redressed.”" 

https://jewishinsider.com/2024/02/javier-milei-argentina-israel-benjamin-netanyahu-jerusalem/

These 11 included, "most famously, Shiri and Yarden Bibas and their redheaded sons Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 1." However, as noted above, that whole family, perhaps excluding Yarden, were likely killed by the IDF months ago. So there were probably 8 Argentines tops, and then 2 of them were rescued about three days later. Milei was soon thanking Israel for this feat, in even greater awe of their amazing powers. 

That's all interesting and raises vague suspicions. Nonetheless, I don't suspect the event was faked or postdated as some have argued, finding that one of the men was freed in November and/or December, or from Khan Younis instead of Rafah, or that both were freed on February 2, not 12. The latter anyway is likely a typo and the others ... something. I haven't read up on all the details, but consider: "Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said special forces broke into a second-floor apartment in Rafah under fire at 1:49 a.m. Monday, accompanied a minute later by airstrikes on surrounding areas." As if describing the same thing, Gaza's Health Ministry says at least 67 civilians were killed in Rafah airstrikes at around "2 a.m." 

https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-02-12-2024-4ade5edf47711c6b0c13d1380980de2b

There are aerial thermal imaging videos of the raid and a related bomb strike that Israel has published (from various posting on X, not cited here but not hard to find). These depict complex, rescue-like movements at a certain spot in Rafah. After some flailing and then a lucky break, I was actually able to geolocate the spot, by the matching details shown below (some labels for matching details, some indicating raid details, partly from the videos and here just copied for consistency, and another 100+ matching details not indicated): 31°17'46.01"N - 34°15'24.71"E. 

https://twitter.com/CL4Syr/status/1757383431988941274

It's near city center, not on the outskirts at all. It seems the rescue was in the middle building with a red circle where a shooter was located. The building to the north has been hit and is intensely burning (purple box). The one to the south is also bombed on its roof, perhaps twice (there seems to be a hole above, at the yellow star, just before a powerful blast is shown there). It's not clear how many civilians died in this area vs. at the refugee camp also hit that night or in any other parts of Rafah, but the overall death toll wound up over 100 and still climbing as the severely injured continued to pass away. Children are of course included once again. https://twitter.com/doamuslims/status/1756860608941641763