Bodies of six Israeli hostages recovered from Gaza

The recovered hostages were named as Alex Dancyg, 75, Yagev Buchshtav, 35, Chaim Peri, 79, Yoram Metzger, 80, Nadav Popplewell, 51, and Avraham Munder, 78.

By World Israel News Staff

The bodies of six Israeli civilians who were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists were rescued from the Gaza Strip by Israeli security forces, the IDF announced in a statement on Tuesday.

The IDF said that it obtained intelligence which helped troops and Shin Bet agents locate the bodies, which were hidden in a tunnel in Khan Younes.

The recovered hostages were named as Alex Dancyg, 75, Yagev Buchshtav, 35, Chaim Peri, 79, Yoram Metzger, 80, Nadav Popplewell, 51, and Avraham Munder, 78.

All of the men were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nirim and Kibbutz Nir Oz, which are both adjacent to the Gaza border.

Munder was previously assumed to be alive, while the others had been declared dead in captivity by IDF intelligence in June and July.

A veteran of the 1967 Six Day War who was wounded in battle, Munder was kidnapped alongside his wife, daughter, and nine-year-old grandson. His son, who also lived on the kibbutz, was killed.

Munder’s surviving relatives were all released from captivity in a December 2023 truce, which saw dozens of hostages freed.

“It’s tragic that a person who helped liberate Jerusalem and answered the call to develop communities in the Negev had his life ended by being thrown aside in a tunnel in Khan Younes,” Munder’s nephew told radio station KAN Reshet Bet on Tuesday morning.

Hebrew-language media reported that Munder has likely been dead since March.

In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his condolences to the families of the hostages and praised Israel’s soldiers and intelligence agents for the recovery operation.

“The State of Israel will continue to make every effort to return all our hostages — both the living and the fallen,” Netanyahu said.

Following the recovery of the bodies, there are now 105 hostages still held in the Strip, of which 34 are confirmed to be dead.

In addition to the hostages abducted on October 7th, Hamas is holding the bodies of two IDF soldiers killed during the 2014 Protective Edge war, and two Israeli civilians with mental health issues who are believed to have entered the Strip of their own accord.