JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The deaths of six Israeli hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza in August were probably linked to an Israeli airstrike against Hamas near where they were being held, the Israeli military said on Wednesday.
“At the time of the strike, the military had no information, not even a suspicion, that the hostages were in the underground compound or its vicinity,” the military said in a statement about the investigation into the hostages’ deaths.
“Had such information been available, the strike would not have been carried out.”
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The statement said it was “highly probable that their deaths were related to the strike near the location where they were held”, although the precise circumstances were still not clear.
The military said the airstrike occurred in February while the bodies of the hostages were recovered in late August.
The most plausible scenario was that they were shot by Palestinian militants around the time of the strike, it said. It was also possible that they had already been killed previously, or that they were shot after they were already dead.
“Due to the extended time that had passed, it was not possible to determine clearly the cause of the death of hostages or the exact timing of the gunfire.”
An Israeli military official said in a briefing with reporters that one change the military has implemented since the hostage bodies were retrieved in August is ensuring hostages are not in the vicinity before ordering a strike against militants.
The official said the military’s understanding was that the militants targeted in February “were killed from secondary effects of our strike”, like lack of oxygen, but that many particulars of the event could not be entirely confirmed.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters, which advocates for the return of more than 100 Israeli and foreign hostages still believed held by militants in Gaza, said the findings “serve as yet another proof that the lives of hostages face constant, daily danger … Time is of the essence.”
Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza after Hamas-led fighters stormed Israeli communities across the border on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Fewer than half of the hostages were freed during the war’s only ceasefire, which lasted for a week in November 2023.
Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 44,500 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Gaza, much of which has been reduced to rubble.
(Reporting by Emily Rose; editing by Alison Williams and Mark Heinrich)
