THE ISRAELI CAMPAIGN group Hostages and Missing Families Forum announced today that two captives held by Hamas in Gaza had died as the Israeli army began bombing the Gazan city of Khan Younis after issuing an evacuation order.
The deaths of Yagev Buchshtab, 35, and Alex Dancyg, 76, who were abducted during the 7 October attack led by Hamas, are a “stark reminder of the urgency” to bring the hostages home, the forum said in a statement.
It did not provide any information on how they had died.
“Their bodies are being held by the Hamas terror organisation,” the Israeli military said in a separate statement.
“The circumstances of their death in Hamas captivity are being examined by all the professional authorities.”
Buchshtab was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nirim along with his wife Rimon Buchshtab-Kirsht, who was released after 50 days in captivity, the forum said.
Dancyg, who was born to Holocaust survivors, worked at Yad Vashem, the International Holocaust Remembrance Institute, and trained thousands of guides there, it added.
The Hostages Families Forum mourns the deaths of Yagev Buchshtab and Alex Dancyg in Hamas captivity.
— Bring Them Home Now (@bringhomenow) July 22, 2024
We extend our deepest condolences to the Buchshtab and Dancyg families.
This morning's devastating news about their deaths serves as yet another stark reminder of the urgency… pic.twitter.com/nd0odOZKSd
Hostages who were held captive with him reported that Dancyg spent his time in captivity giving history lectures to fellow captives, the forum said.
“Yagev and Alex were taken alive and should have returned alive to their families and to their country,” the forum said.
“Their death in captivity is a tragic reflection of the consequences of foot-dragging in negotiations,” it said referring to ceasefire talks that have dragged on for months.
The news of their deaths will only add to the mounting pressure on the government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, who is travelling to the US today for an official visit.
During the October attacks on southern Israel, Hamas and other militants seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, including 44 the Israeli military and officials say are dead.
The attack by Hamas resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally from the AFP news agency based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 39,006 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to data from the territory’s health ministry. Another 10,000 uncounted dead are estimated to be buried beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings.
Hundreds of panicked Gazans fled after the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of part of a so-called humanitarian zone, warning it was preparing to launch an operation in the area but then beginning its bombardment anyway.
Footage posted on social media showed civilians fleeing the assault.
The Israeli military (IDF) has been issuing similar orders throughout the war and especially in recent weeks, pushing the civilian population from one area to another again and again.
The military had declared Al-Mawasi, along the Gaza coast between the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, a humanitarian zone in May, and told Palestinians to go there for their own safety.
But it has now ordered people to leave part of the zone in eastern Khan Younis that it says militants have been using to launch attacks on Israeli targets.
Israel is bombing Khan Younis, which has been declared a safe zone. Thousands of Palestinian civilians are desperately trying to save their lives. pic.twitter.com/jyRABDZ2Wz
— Gaza Notifications (@gazanotice) July 22, 2024
The military said the evacuation was due to “significant terrorist activity and rocket fire toward the state of Israel from the eastern part of the humanitarian area”, making it too “dangerous” to remain.
In a statement, it urged people to relocate from eastern Khan Younis to the west of the “adjusted humanitarian area of Al-Mawasi” that runs along the Gaza coast.
Many Gazans are hesitant to join the swelling tent camps in Al-Mawasi, however, after a recent attack on the area killed at least 92 people and wounded more than 300, according to figures from the Gazan health ministry.
“No place is safe,” said Yussef Abu Taimah, from the town of Al-Qarara in Khan Younis, as he prepared to relocate his family for the fourth time since October.
“We left in the middle of ongoing air and tank shelling, and drones firing shots,” said the 27-year-old, who witnessed dead and wounded people being transported to Nasser Hospital by tuk-tuks and donkey carts.
Abu Taimah said his family was heading to Al-Mawasi, but expected to find no space in the crowded, makeshift encampment.
“We will stay on the street,” he said. “Even the sidewalks are full of people and tents. We are tired and fed up. Enough of this displacement.”
Ahmed al-Bayuk, 53, said each of his three displacements has been harder than the last.
“We barely settle for a few days before the army comes, bombs, displaces us and destroys more,” he said. “Where should we go? Every place is at risk of bombing.”
With reporting from AFP
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