Four Israeli hostages whose dead bodies were recovered from Gaza this week suffocated to death after the IDF started a fire in their vicinity, Hebrew language media has reported.
On Tuesday, Israeli authorities announced that they had discovered the corpses of six people seized on October 7 in Khan Younis.
They were Yoram Metzger, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Chaim Peri, Yagev Buchshtab, and British citizen Nadav Popplewell.
According to Israeli news source Ynet, at least some of the deceased were killed after an IDF operation that took place six months ago.
The army’s 98th Division is said to have attacked a nearby Hamas target and, in the process, started a fire that released carbon dioxide into the tunnel in which they were held.
The Kalashnikov-wielding Hamas members guarding the hostages were reportedly found dead next to them.
Israel’s Institute of Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir is said to be investigating the cause of the hostages’ deaths.
An IDF spokesperson told Ynet they took great precautions to avoid harming hostages when they operate in Gaza.
"We make sure of [reports of the location of kidnapped Israelis] and divert brigade attacks in other directions when information arrives, even with a low level of confidence, about the presence of abductees,” they said.
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said: "The circumstances of their deaths are being investigated. When we summarize the findings we will present them to the families and then to the public.
"We know that the abductees were killed while our forces were in Khan Younis. The spaces were examined at the Forensic Medicine Institute, we will investigate and give an answer.”
Asked about the deaths of the hostages in a press conference, Hagari said: “The hostages were killed while our forces were operating in Khan Younis.”
He did not confirm that they had been killed by Israeli forces, however.
In May, Hamas claimed that Popplewell had died more than a month earlier after an Israeli airstrike hit the location in which he was being held.
In July, the IDF said that Buchshtab had died several months before, in Khan Younis, while they were operating in the area, without providing further details.
Last December, three abductees holding a white flag were mistakenly shot by IDF soldiers after they escaped from captivity in northern Gaza.
"They're all without shirts and they have a stick with a white cloth on it. The soldier feels threatened and opens fire. He declares that they're terrorists. [The IDF] open fire. Two [hostages] are killed immediately," an Israeli official said at the time.
The six hostage corpses recovered from Gaza this week were recovered during a brief mission aimed at locating and retriving their bodies.
The IDF said they had not expected to find any living kidnapped Israelis during the raid.
The total number of hostages remaining in the hands of Hamas in Gaza now stands at 109.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that every effort will continue to be made to return all of the abductees, both alive and dead.
“Our hearts grieve over the terrible loss. My wife Sara and I convey our heartfelt condolences to the dear families,” he said.
"I would like to thank the brave IDF and ISA fighters and commanders for their heroism and determined action.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, “We must not stop for a moment from acting in any way and in any way to return all the abducted to the land of their homeland. This is a supreme moral duty of the State of Israel.”
