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.