JERUSALEM: An Israeli kibbutz on Tuesday confirmed that two hostages whose deaths were announced by Hamas in a video had been “murdered” in Gaza after they were taken to the territory on October 7.
Kibbutz Beeri said in a statement it was informed that Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itay Svirsky, 38, had been “murdered” and their bodies were in the custody of Hamas.
“We will demand they be returned along with the rest of the captives,” the community said.
Yossi Sharabi had moved to the kibbutz 30 years ago, following his brother Eli, it added.
Eli is still being held captive by Hamas after his wife and daughters were killed in the October 7 attack, according to the community.
Hamas on Monday released a video announcing the death of the two men.
The video showed a woman hostage named as Noa Argamani, 26, speaking under duress, revealing that the two men she was held captive with had been killed.
It was not clear when the video was taken.
In a statement released with Monday’s video, Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said the two were killed in “the Zionist (Israeli) army’s bombing.”
In the unprecedented October 7 attack that triggered the Israel-Hamas war, militants seized about 250 hostages, 132 of whom Israeli officials say remain in Gaza.
At least 27 hostages are believed to have been killed, according to an AFP tally based on the latest Israeli figures.
Last month the military announced that soldiers killed three hostages by mistake, believing they posed a threat.
The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of around 1,140 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s relentless offensive on Gaza has since killed at least 24,285 people, more than 70 percent of them women and children, according to the latest toll from the territory’s health ministry.
Kibbutz confirms two Israeli hostages ‘murdered’ in Gaza
https://arab.news/n8zuz
Kibbutz confirms two Israeli hostages ‘murdered’ in Gaza
- Kibbutz Beeri said in a statement it was informed that Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itay Svirsky, 38, had been “murdered”
- Hamas on Monday released a video announcing the death of the two men
Syrian government foils Daesh plot to attack churches and New Year celebrations
- Bomber kills soldier in Aleppo, detonates explosives injuring 2 others
ALEPPO, DAMASCUS: The Syrian Interior Ministry announced on Thursday that it had thwarted a Daesh plot to carry out suicide attacks targeting New Year celebrations and churches, particularly in Aleppo.
The ministry said in a statement that, as part of ongoing counterterrorism efforts and careful monitoring of Daesh cells in cooperation with partner agencies, it had received intelligence indicating plans for suicide attacks targeting New Year celebrations in several provinces, particularly Aleppo, with a focus on churches and civilian gathering areas.
The ministry added that it took preemptive measures, including reinforcing security around churches, deploying mobile and fixed patrols, and setting up checkpoints across the city.
During operations at a checkpoint in Aleppo’s Bab Al-Faraj district, security forces intercepted a suspected Daesh member who opened fire. One internal security soldier was killed, and the attacker detonated explosives, injuring two others.
Daesh recently increased its attacks in Syria, and was blamed for an attack last month in Palmyra that killed three Americans.
On Dec. 13, two US soldiers and an American civilian were killed in an attack Washington blamed on a lone Daesh gunman in Palmyra.
In retaliation, American forces struck scores of Daesh targets in Syria.
Syrian authorities have also carried out several operations against Daesh since then, saying on Dec. 25 they had killed a senior leader of the group.
