Israeli Hostage Noa Argamani: "I Was Not Beaten"

August 26, 20124

Another Israeli lie about October 7 and the hostages has failed, and this time, the person debunking the lies is as Israeli hero, one of the rescued hostages, Noa Argamani. But this lie, as it turns out, isn't so clear and the issue has sort of worked itself out, with media correcting themselves midstream before this distortion spread very far.  But for good measure, at least, I had this look to try and get a clear understanding of just what happened here.  

Noa Argamani is arguably the most famous face of October 7 abduction, seen taken away on a motorcycle, gesturing pleadingly towards her abducted, wounded and helpless boyfriend, Avinatan Or. While Avinatan remains in captivity, Noa was rescued, along with 3 others, in a controversial commando raid in Rafah on June 8. After almost exactly 8 months as a prisoner in Gaza, as she now says, it's a "miracle" she survived, and even got back in time to see her mother again before she passed away from brain cancer soon afterwards.

On August 21, the Embassy of Israel in Tokyo invited Noa and her father Yaacov to the G7 meeting there, to speak about her ordeal and why Israel has to keep on smashing Gaza to bits. Spoken softly in imperfect English, her comments caused a stir. She related the harsh conditions including scarce food and water (Israeli blockade) and the frequent Israeli bombing, and advocated for the release of the remaining hostages - including Avinatan. She also uttered some confusing words that seemed to provide Israel and its boosters with fresh confirmation of Hamas atrocities. 

Most of the media reports to this effect have now been revised, but New Delhi TV's report "'They Hit Me All Over My Body': Israeli Woman Held Captive By Hamas" remains unchanged. "Noa Argamani, an Israeli woman who was abducted by Hamas on October 7, has said she was beaten and her hair was cut in captivity by Hamas. "They hit me all over my body. Nobody came to save me," she told the media."

And here's what she said, according to an edited video clip run by Israeli channel 12 (via Oli London on X): "It's a miracle that I'm here." - cut - "Every night I was falling sleep and thinking this may be the last night of my life."  - cut - "All my (hair?) was cut and I was being hitted all over my body, but nobody came to visit me. Nobody came to see me. Nobody came to give me medical aids. Nobody. Until I got rescued. It's a warzone." 

It sounds kind of like her captors shaved her head and then beat her daily, so badly that every night she was afraid she'd be beaten to death in the morning. 

The haircut might seem like a strange non-sequitur to focus on, but it has a possible meaning known to many Israelis, though they won't want to mention it, that would suggest this was related to sexual abuse by her captors. 

There was a long-secret trial over IDF soldiers who, back in August, 1949 kidnapped  a teenage Bedouin girl, gang-raped her for 3 days, and then murdered her and buried her in a shallow grave. Even before the secret trial records were discovered and published by Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz in 2003, the case was hinted at in an entry in the diary of David Ben Gurion, Israel's first PM: "It was decided and carried out: they washed her, cut her hair, raped her and killed her," he wrote, calling it a "horrific atrocity." (The Guardian, 2003)

It's widely believed in Israel that the female hostages in Gaza are in fact being raped, probably every day. Evidence to this effect exists in one woman's testimony and many second-hand claims. But these claims could well be untrue, motivated by political agendas, and they're widely disputed by several accounts that no such abuse took place. Ms. Argamani has never mentioned such thing, but perhaps they thought she was hinting at it and moved to amplify that hint. Or maybe they realized they were inventing this hint.

Whatever they were trying to imply, Ms. Argamani would have none of it, reportedly issuing a response via her Instagram account on August 23. As Middle East Eye reported: 

"...two days later, she issued a statement on Instagram, saying that some of her remarks had been misquoted and taken out of context." 

"Contrary to some Israeli media reports, Argamani clarified that she was not beaten or had her hair shaved by Palestinian fighters." 

"I cannot ignore what happened here over the past 24 hours, taking my words out of context," she wrote, referring to the Israeli media coverage of her Tokyo speech.

This statement image is not on her main page now, but people have screen grabs of it, with Hebrew text over a "Bring Them Home Now" poster, and Noa's account name as the author. Here on the right is a grab from someone on X, taken after 18 hours, Here's another one on Instagram, from 1 hour after, with a translation reading so:

I can't ignore what happened here in the media in the last 24 hours, things taken out of context.

I was not beaten and my hair was not cut. I was in a building that was bombed by the air force. The exact quote is:

This weekend, after the shooting, as I said, I had cuts all over my head 

And I was hurt all over my body. (in red)

(I emphasize that I was not beaten, but injured all over my body by the collapse of the building on me)

As a victim of the 7th of October I will not allow myself to be victimized once again by the media.  

I don't think that's exact. See below - I think she copied over "this weekend" from someone's transcription of "as I said." Nothing relevant had happened "this weekend."

Again, this post does not appear on Noa's main Instagram page where (I think) it should be, Maybe she was pressured to pull it down? There are several copies on her "tagged" page, besides other images relating to her comments, although I think other people do that tagging. Social media accounts I trust and some professional journalists say she did in fact post this. No one's word is cited, so it seems they saw it there themselves. I didn't see it, so I'll cite them:

Brett Wilkins, ZNet (via MSN): "Responding to reports in outlets including The Jerusalem Post—which on Thursday ran the headline “Hamas Beat Me All Over”—Noa Argamani said on Instagram that “I can’t ignore what happened in the media in the last 24 hours.”"

The Jerusalem Post - in an updated version of the very article in question - would state as fact that "Argamani went to social media" to say these things. Initially, it did say "‘Hamas beat me all over my body,' Noa Argamani says in first testimony on her captivity" It sounds like the body beatings were administered during captivity. and by Hamas, or at least that's what she seems to have said. The JPost article has since changed, so here's a modified screen grab from Tameem on X

As I show below, the old headline still brought up a certain article when I checked, but now the headline is different: 'It's a miracle I'm alive" says Noa Argamani in first testimony on her captivity." I'm not sure what the original article text had said, but now it starts with a different cause and a different word for the "beating." 

"After she was taken hostage on October 7, she said she had cuts all over her head and was hurt all over her body." So that happened during her kidnapping, not during her extended captivity. But further down, they give yet another reason - the third one suggested in this single article:

Despite media reporting that she was beaten by Hamas," - some of that in the first version of this very article! - Argamani went to social media on Friday to say that her words had been taken out of context. She said she was not beaten and her hair was not cut.

"I said, I had cuts all over my head and I was hurt all over my body." Argamani emphasized that her wounds came from the collapse of a building after it was bombed by the IAF.

So she now specifies she was NOT beaten in captivity. This is new. Previously, one could assume or even say that was, since she had never specified. But now she has. We learn every day. 

Seeing the Channel 12 video, the translation issue still seemed confusing to me. So I looked for a full video of comments in order, and found one here that works well enough. My call that Noa twisted her own words a bit before anyone else did, but referencing a certain video helps it all make sense. Here's a full transcription of what she says, in 2 long segments:

"Every night I was falling sleep and thinking this may be the last night of my life. Until the moment ?? July 8th (meaning rescue on JUNE 8)? 'til today it was dangerous even all this time and I just did not believe that I was still surviving. In this moment that I'm here sitting with you, it's a miracle that I'm here. It's a miracle because I survived the 7th of October, October 7th, and I survived this bombing and also I survived the rescue." 

- cut -

"It's really sad that all the world sees the army doing in Gaza but they don't see what the terrorists doing to us 'cause they hiding us in tunnels and house that nobody can see us. In this video, I've been after the shooting with, as I said, (or "this weekend?") all my head was cut and I was being hitted all over my body, but nobody came to visit me. Nobody came to see me. Nobody came to give me medicine aids."

For "all my head was cut," auto-captions by sound gave me "all my have was cut." It's reasonable enough to hear it as "all my hair." "All my head" is, in fact, unclear English. A clarification was called for.

"Being hitted" also sounds more like being hit or beaten, repeatedly, than sustaining one-time injuries. But she says "I was being hitted," in passive form, not that Hamas actively hit or beat her, as some reported it. It could be 2 ways of saying the same thing but it's not. She meant she was injured all over. 

An unclear video is referenced. Noa gestures to her right at "this bombing" and at "this video" that came after "the shooting" (of the video? of guns?), I guess indicating a video that was recently shown on a screen to her right. Is she referring to her famous abduction? She's not notably injured in that, and no one has mentioned her being injured. Or did they show her rescue video? I don't believe she was injured in that either. 

It seems the only time she would suffer such injuries is in one or another of the two IDF airstrikes she survived in January. In fact, she describes just these same injuries in a video posted to Telegram by the Hamas-affiliated Al-Qassam and Al-Quds Brigades soon after, on January 18. I suppose this is the video shown, and not seeing that, the reference seems confusing. When she says "this bombing," and "this video," and even "the shooting," she means the bombing discussed in this (present) video they had apparently all just seen. 

"There is no water or food. All resources have been depleted," she says in the video, according to the translated subtitles. "Al-Qassam soldiers are treating us well. They are caring for us as much as they can but there aren't much resources left." Relating the first attack: Along with Yossi Sharabi and Itay Svirsky, "I was located in a building. It was bombed by an IDF airstrike." 3 missiles were fired, she hears, from an F-16. One was a dud but 2 detonated very nearby, collapsing at least part of their own building on top of them. "We were all buried under the rubble. Al-Qassam soldiers rescued my life and Itay," she says, but Yossi Sharabi was killed. Then, after "many days" but just 2 nights, she says the 2 survivors were being moved to a new, safer location, when their vehicle was hit in another IDF airstrike, killing Itay. 

After the two attacks combined, Noa says, pointing to her long, cascading hair: "I remained injured in my head. My head is full of shrapnels and have injuries in my body." 

This is exactly what she was referring to, like she said on Instagram. Her gestures and use of "this" suggest everyone in attendance had seen it and probably knew wjat she meant. Or perhaps not - maybe just a clip was shown, or maybe the sound or subtitles were removed, so that Noa had to add these details in order to relate her actual story.

So it's clear that the initial media reading was fallacious and that Argamani's correction is correct. However, her own unclear wording somewhat divides the blame. I don't suppose this distortion is just an honest mistake, but it could be. And, again, it doesn't seem this "lie" made it very far.

And still,  it is a miracle she survived Israel's brutality. 4 times she cheated death: once on 10/7, when she made it to Gaza alive on that motorcycle while many didn't - perhaps as many were picked off by IDF Apache helicopters as made it to Gaza alive. Then she saw 2 fellow prisoners killed in IDF strikes that left her injured and the sole survivor of her small group. And finally, as she notes, she survived the intense rescue operation that freed her and 3 others, but reportedly killed another 3 hostages (unnamed), along with scores of Palestinian civilians (over 250 reportedly killed, but this includes some fighters). That's 4 situations with a roughly 50% chance of death that she made it through. Here's a picture I made a while back,

Israeli Hostage Killings in Gaza: A December 7 or a February 6?

August 25, 2024

edits/updates August 26

Suffocated or Shot?

On August 20, it was reported that the bodies of six Israeli hostages, five of them already confirmed dead, were just recovered from a Hamas tunnel in Khan Younis during an overnight operation. These were given as: Chaim Peri, 79, Yoram Metzger, 80, Alex Dancyg, 75, Nadav Popplewell, 51, Yagev Buchshtav, 35, and Avraham Munder, 78.

The Times of Israel noted "the IDF said it would continue to investigate the causes of the men’s deaths, including the possibility that some or all of the six were killed by Israeli fire amid military operations in Khan Younis." This possibility was aired on the same day, by details reported on Yedioth Ahronoth's Ynet website: Yoram Metzger was murdered in captivity. Assessment: The 5 abductees suffocated to death due to fire from an IDF attack (auto-translated from Hebrew)

Apparently, during the 98th Division's maneuver in Khan Yunis six months ago, a target was attacked near the tunnel from which the bodies of Alex Danzig, Yoram Metzger, Avraham Monder, Haim Peri, Yagev Buchstev and Nadav Poplwell were returned. It is estimated that carbon dioxide was emitted from the fire and flooded the tunnel, and 5 of the abductees – and the terrorists with them – died. 

However, as they reported, "Metzger, according to the autopsy, was murdered." The article gives some detail on this:

Yoram Metzger's family says that autopsy results at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir revealed that he was shot dead by one of his captors. Apart from him, the main assessment of the circumstances of the captive deaths of the other five abductees ... is that they were killed by suffocation in the tunnel in which they were being held – as [an accidental] result of an IDF attack."

This was causing some stir before someone came back on the 22nd with a contrary assessment, sourced to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and to the Hostage Families Forum, presumably based on what the IDF told them. So it's an IDF claim. As Reuters would report on the 22nd, "Bullets were found in the bodies of the six Israeli hostages retrieved from Gaza this week, the Israeli military and the Hostage Families Forum campaign group said on Thursday." Furthermore, "The military told Reuters it retrieved another four bodies alongside its hostages, presumed to be Hamas militants, and that those bodies did not show signs of bullet wounds." This clearly shows that the guards shot the hostages dead before they themselves died from suffocation in some separate event, as opposed to their all dying from suffocation at the same time.

This post will explore this controversy along with some related context to raise the possibility that Israel did in fact kill everyone at this site and is currently promoting a false narrative to deny that.

Altered Date? December or February

Times of Israel's first report on the recover noted "In December, Hamas had published a video showing Peri, Metzger, and a third hostage alive, and in March the terror group claimed that the three were killed by Israeli strikes. In May, Hamas shared a coerced propaganda clip featuring Popplewell. It was apparently published weeks after he was killed." The report also noted: "The five were believed to have been killed in Khan Younis in early 2024, although the causes of death are not known."

New York Times: "in early June, the Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said that it was examining the possibility that some of the hostages had been killed together months earlier while Israeli forces were operating in the Khan Younis area," and he would repeat this upon body recovery in August. "On Tuesday, Adm. Hagari was asked again about how the hostages died at a news conference. He repeated what he had said in June — that the “hostages were killed while our troops were operating in Khan Younis” — and added that a forensic examination would reveal more."

No one can give an exact date, but Ynet seems the most specific for incident details, involved units, and maybe the date: "The attack in question took place during the 98th Division's maneuver in the area about six months ago," they reported. That would be about Feb. 23, give or take some days. That's long after that video of them alive was published, and shortly before their deaths were announced. 

But things can be published or announced after they happen. In fact, their captors reported those 3 were apparently killed, or out of contact anyway, back in December, This would make them unavailable for new video shoots, suggesting that the video was filmed earlier and gave no proof they were still alive. And the March report was clearly couched as a delayed confirmation of their earlier deaths. 

Dec. 23 Telegram post

"Due to the savage Zionist bombing, we lost contact with the group responsible for five Zionist prisoners, including:

1- Haim Gershon Peri חיים פרי 

2- Yoram Etak Metzger יורם מצגר  

3- Amiram Israel Koper עמירם קופר 

"We suspect that the prisoners were killed in one of the Zionist raids on the Gaza Strip," but apparently everyone who would know for sure had been killed. This clearly relates to the group in question - two of these names - Peri and Metzger - are among the six recently recovered, although Amiram Cooper is not (see below for some optional sorting). And they say 2 others died with them.

On March 1 the brigades reported they had somehow confirmed the 3 deaths, and that a total of seven were killed, not 5. 3/1 announcement and video on Telegram

"We have previously announced that our contact has been cut off with our mujahideen who are guarding a number of enemy prisoners in our honest [Sadiq] sector (meaning what, I'm not sure)... After examination and scrutiny during recent weeks, we have confirmed the martyrdom of a number of our mujahideen and the killing of seven enemy prisoners in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Zionist bombing." They assert the total number of hostages killed by the IDF "may exceed seventy prisoners," adding that "the enemy leadership is deliberately killing its prisoners to get rid of this file." 

Of the 7 specified killed in December, they named, Peri, Metzger, and Cooper, promising "We will later announce the names of the other four dead after confirming their identities." Then a March 9 text post  and photo explain:

We previously announced the killing of 7 Zionist prisoners as a result of the barbaric Zionist raids on the Gaza Strip, and we revealed the names of three of them. After examining and verifying the identity of the remaining four dead, it was confirmed to us that the following were killed:

1- Itzik Jarat (Itzik Elgarat)

2- Alex Densig (Dancyg)

3- Ronin Tommy Angel (Engel)

4- Eliyahu Margalit 

In a Feb. 29 preview post, they explained "We had announced that we had lost contact with the group responsible for their detention on 12-23-2023 AD." This sounds like they claim this exact date. 

The IDF was fighting in Khan Younis in late February and early March, when the IDF now says the hostages were killed, But they were also there earlier. Wikipedia's "Siege of Khan Younis" page gives this as starting with airstrikes and artillery shelling on December 1, with ground forces entering on Dec 3, and in the city center by the 5th. The very 98th Division credited with the attacks on this tunnel was in Khan Younis, destroying tunnels, somewhat before this report of December 6: The IDF said they in Khan Younis, "operating in its center," where "The military’s 98th Division “launched a combined attack on the area of ​​the city of Khan Younis, against the ‘centers of gravity’ of the Hamas terror organization,” the IDF said. ... Soldiers killed “many” Hamas operatives in ground combat and airstrikes, and located around 30 tunnel shafts that were then destroyed during the ongoing battles, as well as a weapons depot inside a mosque."

Then again on December 27 it was reported "According to the IDF, the commando units are fighting Hamas “deep within Khan Younis,” killing many operatives and destroying the terror group’s infrastructure in the process, including tunnel shafts." (ToI) "Dozens" of strikes are mentioned, likely going back a few days, to the time of that lost contact report on the 23rd. I'm not sure if the 98th was involved then, but if not, then maybe some other unit sealed this tunnel and 98 was picked for the cover story because they had an alibi for December 23.

But according to Israel, the same people, more or less, survived December just fine, and were only shot dead while a battle raged above ground in late February. It's as if they read the delayed confirmation as a new death announcement and fit their narrative to that. And, according to Israel, the murdering guards, or perhaps their later replacements, somehow died later on. And so Hamas' 7 or so enemy prisoners including at least some of these 6, and their guards did all go quiet, while IDF troops were in the area. This is all agreed. But according to Israel, Hamas predicted it all months in advance, but in a scrambled form, in their totally untrue story. 

Also note how, as Ynet reported: "The forces of the 98th Division, consisting of a single but [reinforced] brigade combat team, led the operation to return the bodies of the six abductees, under the command of the paratroopers brigade commander, Colonel Ami Biton." Were they sent to clean up their own crime scene? 

Prisoner IDs Compared

I think I have this all sorted out, but conveying it in a non-confusing way escapes me at the moment, so ... good luck. 

It seems the December 7 could equate, roughly, with the February 6 just found, but for one. However, there's only partial crossover. In review, the 7 bodies reported by Hamas vs. the 6 recovered by Israel have:

3 hostages in both sets: Peri, Metzger, Dancyg 

4 left off the 7: Cooper, Margalit, Engel, Elgarat

3 added to replace those: Munder, Popplewell, Buchstav

All told, ToI reported: "Dancyg and Buchshtav had been confirmed dead by the IDF in late July, while Peri, Metzger, and Popplewell were declared dead by the army in early June. The five were believed to have been killed in Khan Younis in early 2024, although the causes of death are not known."

But who did they die with? One that's missing now. "On June 3, 2024, after obtaining new intelligence, the Israeli military confirmed the death of Israeli hostage Amiram Cooper, 84, who was killed in Hamas captivity." https://www.timesofisrael.com/taken-captive-nir-oz-founder-amiram-cooper-wife-nurit-released/

"four hostages" - Cooper, Peri, Metzger, and Popplewell - "were believed to have been killed together “several months ago” near Khan Younis" https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/06/03/world/israel-gaza-war-hamas But when three of those were found together, Cooper was reportedly not there. And they also have a tally that's one less than in the original version. Hmm... 

Dancyg was somehow confirmed dead by Israeli authorities in late July, weeks after the above, suggesting he died separately from them. That would complicate the picture Hamas had painted. But then his now appearing with Peri and Metzger, just like Hamas had said back in December ... It's Israel's picture that gets complicated. (Oddly, I had picked Dancyg as a visual match for the 3rd man in the December video. But I hadn't checked all images, Cooper fits even better, was the name given (later), and was named among the 7 killed. But then he was reportedly killed in the same batch anyway.)

Eliyahu Margalit and Ronen Engel were declared dead, executed, prior to December 1 (Reuters), as they say, without providing evidence. That's earlier than the deaths Hamas reports. This has happened other times, as with Judith Weinsten, who were injured and "confirmed" to die from that, but then the Hamas side reports they survived that, only to be killed in a later IDF attack. This has the hallmarks of psychological warfare, but still, I usually suspect it's true, and the same applies to Engel and Margalit. 

Itzik Elgarat hasn't been mentioned otherwise by anyone I've noticed - there's no Hamas claim or Israeli confirmation one way or the other, and no body has been found yet. Hamas' claim of his death stands challenged.

Avraham Munder is news, never reported by either side as having died. ToI: "Munder had not been previously declared dead by the IDF, although the army had some information that had raised concern for his wellbeing. As such, until Tuesday morning he had been listed among the hostages presumed alive." This information did not include his being named among those killed in December.

And the other two have different stories already lodged. Nadav Popplewell was linked by Israel to this group back in June, while the Hamas side reports he was killed in IDF bombing at an unspecified time, perhaps as late as April, ("more than a month ago" as announced May 11), bombing that occurred in a "place of detention ... with prisoner Jodi Fainstein (meaning Judith Weinstein)," someone who was not in this group of men. (TG) Yagev Buchstav/Buchstab was said to die from lack of food and/or medicine, back on March 23 (TG), and would be confirmed dead on July 22. 

If these two actually died with Peri, Metzger, and Dancyg - on either alleged date - Hamas has concealed this with the later reports giving different causes and dates. Some kind of honest mix-up or translation issue might explain these differences, but otherwise they seem to complicate a direct translation of one group to the other. 

It also seems possible the IDF has tacked these 3 (Popplewell, Buchstav, and Munder) onto this scene somehow, after finding their bodies somewhere else, perhaps erasing the 4 others from public reports to make some room. (see below, "Scenarios" for more consideration of this.) This would give a different enough final picture to divorce these two stories. And if that was their idea, they might also change the date and circumstances, as it seems they have. But somehow, I don't exactly suspect this is the case either, and some unknown details are required to make full sense of this. 

Another point: a preview image before the 4 were named had blank plates in 2 different shades, 2 looking military and 2 I guess civilian. None of these 4 they would name seems very military. Though maybe all of them have served in the IDF, they seem like retirement age, and all were abducted from home, not a base. Either way, the 2 types here could explain the reports of 5 gone missing later being expanded to 7. Maybe just 5 were thought to be at the one site, missing the final reports to note how 2 more were just moved in. Or perhaps there was just 2 groups taken out at the same time, here lumped together. Then we would expect 5 bodies whereas we have 6. Something doesn't fully add up either way. 

Suffocated?

As noted above, Ynet reported "the main assessment" of medical examiners is that the victims "were killed by suffocation in the tunnel in which they were being held – as a casual result of an IDF attack." The best reason for this assessment is presence of any clinical signs for suffocation and, vague as those are, the absence of any signs of violent death. So according to this, they didn't appear to have been - for example - shot dead.

Their captors certainly seem to have died from something like suffocation. Reuters: "The military told Reuters it retrieved another four bodies alongside its hostages, presumed to be Hamas militants, and that those bodies did not show signs of bullet wounds." And these would be very close to the hostages in order to guard them, and most likely breathing the same air. 

The hostage bodies found "near" a "loose concrete deck" in the wall of one tunnel, according to Ynet. "The tunnel was connected to three different underground corridors, in each of which the fighters also discovered the bodies of terrorists, along with Kalashnikov rifles." Like the hostages, the guards "were also found [intact] and sound," but "according to one IDF assessment, the terrorists who were found guarded the bodies of the abductees in recent months, but were killed as a result of prolonged stay underground and in unfavorable conditions." It's not clear why they would later die non-violently, as if by suffocation, "months" after the prisoners were killed, apparently by some different suffocation episode. 

The tunnel entrance was found 10 meters underground, IDF sources claim. But was it always that deeply buried? The published recovery video (Ynet - see also Ynet: Inside Khan Younis hostage extraction) shows soldiers in the predawn dark, descending a narrow excavated path into a gigantic crater of dirt, with the tunnel entrance newly dug out far below. The excavation here is clear and limited. A powerful bomb must have made that gigantic crater it's set in, sealing the tunnel shut at least on this end. If the other exits were also sealed, eventually the oxygen down there would run out. Below is a contrast enhanced, sharpened, and labeled view as I see it. The crater fills the whole frame but for a sliver of the background at the very top edge - we see some buildings, and a lot of sky (meaning no more buildings there). 

So that's the place these six were found. Take note.

Interestingly, a channel 12 report said says the fighters here were killed in the same attacks that had them worried about a rescue; "The bombing killed Hamas terrorists who were guarding the abductees." (screengrab: I didn't find the article yet) Lucky thing this burial death spared the Israelis stuck in the same tomb, since they were already shot dead in a panic, before this doom descended on the place. 

Now they suggest it happened weeks or months later. in some possibly unrelated "unfavorable conditions." They're not so excited to claim any immediate deaths at this site. 

Depending just how the fighter bodies were found, they might have died more suddenly, suffocated when the oxygen was sucked from the tunnel in a fuel-air explosion, or possibly hit with toxic gas, if that makes any sense. Radios should still work underground, but the fighters here reportedly just went out of contact all of a sudden. A slow suffocation or even smoke inhalation is unlikely to silence them so quickly. 

This wouldn't be the first time. It was just over a week earlier, on December 14, when it seems Israel killed 3 of its hostages with suffocation or toxic gas. Unaware of any hostages in the area, they attacked a tunnel in the Jabalia camp, killing a top Hamas commander, Ahmad Al Ghandour. Afterwards, they found Israeli hostages 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/ 

Bullets in Bodies?

Metzger was said to be fatally shot from the start, and later, it was reported that bullets or bullet wounds were found in at least some of their bodies, suggesting maybe they had all been killed by their captors rather than by any IDF attack. 

"Israel's Abu Kabir Forensic Institute found evidence of bullet wounds on the bodies of the hostages who were recovered from the Gaza Strip." https://x.com/MacTaskForce/status/1826916343980941562

"Breaking Report: Bullets found in the bodies of the hostages released this week. It is believed that the terrorists guarding the hostages killed them while in captivity, fearing a rescue operation during an IDF aistrrike in the area where they held hostages." https://x.com/IsraelMFA/status/1826605344866308456

Reuters: "Bullets were found in the bodies of the six Israeli hostages retrieved from Gaza this week, the Israeli military and the Hostage Families Forum campaign group said on Thursday."

New York Times: "A group representing relatives of hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel said on Thursday that autopsies showed “bullets were found in the bodies” of six captives ..." 

Bullets were found "in the bodies." In all of them? Just some of them? Ora Levitt read it as "some" of the bodies, while The Persian Jewess and Adam Milstein read it as in "all 6" of them. But most people just cite the vague given form: "in the bodies," maybe all or just some of them. 

Already on the 22nd, that issue was addressed: "According to the institute’s report, the bodies of the six hostages all have signs of gunfire, likely indicating they were killed by their captors. Channel 12 reported that the military believes that they were executed by their captors during an IDF operation near where they were being held, with their guards possibly believing a rescue operation was underway." However, the report also notes "The findings are initial, and the IDF and health officials have not yet determined the exact causes of deaths." (ToI via MSN)

Of course, some of these men, possibly all of them, may have been shot during their abductions, and this may be the sole cause for those bullets. The state of these supposed wounds isn't mentioned. They might have been obvious older injuries, some 2-3 months healed, and that crucial detail was just left out. 

Furthermore, any bullets or marks the examiners saw presumably did not look fatal, from their location or nature. If they did, then that assessment of suffocation would be ungrounded. 

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

Once this story has had time to serve its purpose, Israeli authorities will likely admit the bullets found in some bodies were unrelated to their deaths, which seem after all to be from some kind of suffocation. They may leave open that it was another accident as with Sherman, Beiser, and Toledano after all. But if they also admit the right date, it will dawn on some people that 9-10 hostages were killed by their own army in about the same way - suffocated in sealed tunnels - in two egregious incidents just a week apart. And this is the same time the IDF fatally shot 3 other hostages who just walked up to them. Do they want to admit to (at least!) 12-13 IDF hostage killings in just a week of this war dedicated partly to their rescue? No. So maybe this most lethal of the 3 incidents has to get moved and changed around. 

Scenarios

If the hostages appeared to some eyes to have died from suffocated, but some or all also had bullets in them, that could have a few possible explanations. They could be shot non-fatally at any point in their life before then, including on October 7, or just before the fire or "unfavorable conditions" that caused fighters in 3 connected tunnels to die, it seems, pretty suddenly. Or they could just be shot, with all contrary assessments just being wrong somehow, if the IDF's strange scenario were somehow true.  

One possibility: the tunnel was de-oxygenated or maybe even gassed in an attack by the 98th Division or whoever - they entered, found the guards and prisoners all dead, decided to shoot the dead prisoners but not the guards, and then call in the airstrike - this provided a better explanation, as a backup in case the better-yet explanation failed, and buried the evidence for the time being. They could then come back and rediscover the scene, and try for that better-yet explanation, cite the bullets as proof of Hamas murder. 

But again, these bullet wounds, intended to look fatal and probably succeeding, would have complicated or precluded that assessment that 5 of them just suffocated. Presumably, the relevant experts no longer stand by that call, deferring to the bullet thing. That makes sense. What doesn't make sense is these experts pressuring themselves to start with some obviously wrong reading. Anywhere else, you could assume they did that on purpose, because the Human race is mostly "Hamas." But this is the people at Abu Kabir, in Israel.

More likely: the 98th or whoever called in the airstrike that wound up killing everyone inside, with some form of suffocation. They might have known these prisoners were there, or likely had no clue. They probably just left the site buried as they set to burying others, and then just came back later, based on a tip or a hunch on reflection, or because it seemed like the right time to act on that buried knowledge, 

As for the story changes: these would obviously be intended to conceal the truth, and seem to include a date shift of 2 months and an artificial divorce of deaths at the site into two events, and perhaps misreporting some of the identities of the recovered bodies, This could involve using a few secretly recovered bodies from other locations for DNA proof and burial purposes, effectively erasing that many who genuineky were there and had their bodies recovered. That would leave them lacking a story...

Where are Amiram Cooper, Eliyahu Margalit, Ronen Engel, and Itzik Elgarat? Especially Cooper, whom Israel had previously placed as dying alongside Peri, Metzger and Dancyg, "months" prior to June 3. They should be there, per Hamas reports, and Cooper even by Israeli reports. I'm halfway serious in predicting exactly this story is planned: some or all of them - notably Cooper - will turn up somewhere else, and their removal from the site will be said to prove that Hamas guys outlived the prisoners - because they killed them, of course. And it would show how they were starting to remove and hide the bodies, so they were not trapped underground. It will be a small mystery how they became stuck underground and died themselves, in a totally unrelated incident halfway through this process. 

But that will hardly matter once they have absolved Israel of all guilt for killing Netanyahu's friend and these other fairly distinguished people. In time, we may learn of the unfortunate mix-up among the openly-recovered bodies - 7 as it turns out - and some secretly-recovered hostage bodies that "accidentally" helped them to temporarily erase this extremely embarrassing episode.

Narrative Origins?

This discovery came soon after Al-Qassam and Al-Quds brigades published, on August 15, their first ever admission to their own deliberate killing of a hostage. https://t.me/resistmirror1/8641

"After investigating the killing of an enemy prisoner at the hands of his guard, it was found that the conscript assigned to the guard acted in a retaliatory manner, contrary to instructions, after receiving news of the martyrdom of his two children in one of the enemy’s massacres."

It's not specified if this is a recent killing, or a prior development they were just now telling us about. No name is given, but a photo is shown of a wrapped body with his face half-uncovered, modified and perhaps unrelated stock imagery. Perhaps based on the photo, the IDF responded by claiming that victim was already killed and recovered by the IDF way back in November, so he couldn't be just now executed (but again, they didn't specify that). https://t.me/ILtoday/8248

Taking "his body" literally, it's unclear who this refers to. Just 2 bodies I know of were reported as recovered in November: Noa Maciano and Judith Weiss, both female, with different stories. The best fit was perhaps recovered at the end of November, but it was only reported on December 2: Yeshiva World: "It was also announced over the weekend that IDF soldiers in Gaza recovered the body of Ofir Tzarfati, H’yd, whose family was informed on Thursday that he was murdered by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip." The photos I see of Tzarfati bear a decent resemblance to the man in the photo. I had guessed that he died from reportedly severe injuries sustained during his abduction, but it seems he actually was "murdered in captivity," in revenge for his 2 dead children. This term is almost always attached to a killed hostage, but usually it's just a political figure of speech that sounds better than "killed by the IDF, again." But for once it seems to be true.

Anyway, it would be just after this long-sought proof that Hamas also kills the hostages that the supposed intelligence was received allowing the recovery, 5 days later, of those 6 bodies found, and then starting with Metzger, found to have bullets in at least some of them. That seems interesting to me.

Above I noted how Yoram Metzger was the first to have a bullet, and a fatal one, mentioned. Did his wounds look more fatal than the others? Or is this distinction related to his being the only one reported to be a personal friend of Prime Minister Netanyahu?  According to "a leading source in the Qassam [brigade]" and reported on the brigade's official website months back, Metzger, was "a close friend of Netanyahu "according to his confessions" while in detention." https://alqassam.ps/arabic/news/details/19843 As I noted in an earlier post, it was about a day after Hamas confirmed Metzger's death that Netanyahu started querying just how many of the hostages were still alive. Minus his friend and whoever else, was a deal even worth it? He apparently decided it was not, and started insisting on specific and impossible numbers of hostages to be released as a precondition for anything. 

Perhaps an order was sent down that Hamas bullets have to be what killed Netanyahu's personal friend, in particular. No suffocation from an IDF attack can have done it. Lacking such an order for the other 5, perhaps, the doctors initially just called it like they saw it - apparent suffocation, down there in that buried tunnel prison. Only then was a new note of "bullets" attached to whole batch.

"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.

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.