The Israeli army on Monday announced the deaths of four hostages in the Gaza Strip, following their abduction by Hamas during the militants’ attack on October 7.

“(Israeli army) representatives have informed the families of Chaim Perry, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Cooper and Nadav Popplewell, who were brutally abducted to the Gaza Strip on October 7, that they are no longer alive and that their bodies are held by the Hamas terrorist organisation,” an army statement said.

Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a separate video address: “We assess that the four of them were killed while together in the area of Khan Yunis during our operation there against Hamas.”

The Israeli community of kibbutz Nirim had earlier confirmed the death of Popplewell, an Israeli-British national.

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Hamas’s armed wing said in a video last month that Popplewell had died of wounds sustained in Israeli air strikes.

Hamas in December released a video showing Cooper, 84, Metzger, 80 and Perry, 80, alive. The three are from kibbutz Nir Oz.

Campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement that it “bows its head in great sorrow upon receiving the devastating news of the murder in captivity of (the four)”.

“The Israeli government must send out a negotiating delegation this evening and return all the hostages, both living and murdered.”

Militants had also seized wives of Cooper and Metzger during their attack, but the two women were released during a one-week truce between Israel and Hamas at the end of November.

Around 75 people were abducted from Nir Oz, one of the major sites of the October 7 attack.

Earlier Monday, the military said it had located in Nir Oz the body of Dolev Yehud, 35, a paramedic who until then had been believed to be held hostage in Gaza but who was killed on October 7.

AFP

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