Families of people held hostage by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip hold photographs of their loved ones during a protest outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Oct. 21, 2023. Photo by Tomer Neuberg/Flash90.
Two of the hostages identified as Hanan Yablonka of Tel Aviv and Idan Shtivi from Ganei Tikva.
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
Three Israelis who were said to be missing are now confirmed to be hostages in Gaza, according to IDF spokesperson R-Adm. Daniel Hagari.
The names of two of the hostages have been cleared for publication: Hanan Yablonka of Tel Aviv and Idan Shtivi from Ganei Tikva.
The father of Hanan Yablonka, Reuven Yablonka told N12, “We now have hope. We’ve known for almost 100 days that he might have been captured – now we have received the positive news. We don’t know his condition, but we hope to understand more in the near future.”
The status of many October 7th victims has been unclear with many family members of captive and missing Israelis uncertain of their fate.
Bereaved relatives are often not able to establish when and how their loved ones died.
For instance, Initially, it was believed that both Gadi Haggai and his wife Judith Weinstein were being held captive in Gaza, but last week it was revealed that Judith died on October 7th and the bodies of the couple are being held by terrorists.
Immediately after October 7th, the US stated that 12 of its citizens were unaccounted for or were being held hostage by Hamas terrorists.
The parents of hostage Sahar Baruch (25) from Kibbutz Be’eri were informed on Wednesday that their son had been killed during an IDF attempt to rescue him from captivity in Gaza on December 8th.
It’s uncertain whether Hamas killed Sahar Baruch or if Israeli fire caused his death.
Also unclear is at what phase of the rescue operation Sahar Baruch died.
On December 8th, Hamas released a video of Sahar Baruch’s body next to IDF equipment and blamed the IDF for his death.
Shortly after the operation, the IDF announced two soldiers had been seriously wounded while attempting to rescue a hostage.
The IDF announced on Wednesday, “We are working in all ways, intelligence and operational, to return the hostages home.”
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