Israel says two hostages killed in Gaza, Hamas blames Israeli bombing

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.