IDF Spokesperson, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari, delivered a special statement yesterday evening (Tuesday) following the rescue operation from a tunnel in Khan Younis, where the bodies of hostages Nadav Poplowell, Yaakov Buchstab, Yoram Metzger, Avraham Mondar, Chaim Peri, and Alex Danzig were recovered. In his opening remarks, he addressed the rescue and said: “Last night, IDF forces from the 98th Division, under precise guidance from the Shin Bet, Military Intelligence Directorate, and the Hostage Command Center, raided an underground tunnel in Khan Younis, where they found and recovered the bodies of the six hostages. The forces arrived at the exact location thanks to intelligence gathered by the Shin Bet and Military Intelligence over weeks, based on interrogations of detainees and other means.”
The IDF Spokesperson emphasized the ongoing efforts to bring back all the hostages: “The Nir Oz community coined the phrase: ‘The living for rehabilitation, the dead for burial.’ We are determined to bring all the hostages home, the living for rehabilitation, and the fallen for burial. We are working around the clock to create the conditions for this.”
Regarding the recent assessments that the six hostages who were recovered may have died from inhaling carbon dioxide released into the tunnel where they were held after a fire broke out following an IDF strike on a nearby target, Hagari said: “We know that the hostages were killed while our forces were operating in Khan Younis. It should be noted that these six hostages were found, and we need to clarify all the details. These fallen hostages are in Israel and have been brought for burial, but they were also examined at the Forensic Institute. We can conduct a quick investigation and provide answers first to the families and communities, and later we will update the public.”
The IDF Spokesperson also emphasized: “We fully understand the urgency given the growing concern for their health and mental state as time passes. The IDF operates day and night to gather more intelligence and create more operational options for rescuing the hostages. However, we will not be able to bring everyone back through rescue operations.”
During his statement, the IDF Spokesperson experienced brief interruptions due to technical issues with the teleprompter he was reading from. At the end of his statement, he apologized, saying: “It’s very important that these things are done professionally, especially when addressing the public, the families, and the communities. I apologize for that; this sensitivity is important to us.”
