The IDF confirmed on Monday that two hostages, Alexander Dancyg and Yagev Buchshtab, are dead and that they were probably mistakenly killed by IDF forces during battles in Khan Yunis some months ago.
Dancyg, 76, was kidnapped on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Buchshtab, 35, was seized from Kibbutz Nirim. Dancyg, born in Poland, was a historian and a Holocaust educator.
Buchshtab and his wife, Rimon Kirsht Buchshtab, 36, who worked in alternative medicine, were taken hostage from Nirim on October 7. She was released from captivity on November 28 as part of a hostage-prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas.
The IDF operated in Khan Yunis from December 1 until April 7.
On March 10, Hamas issued an update that the two hostages had been killed. However, Hamas has engaged in a variety of psychological warfare tactics. While there are cases where the IDF has mistakenly killed hostages, there are dozens of cases where Hamas killed hostages they were detaining and then later tried to blame the IDF.
The military had therefore not accepted Hamas’s March announcement – until now.
However, the IDF recently acquired new unspecified intelligence, which, combined with Hamas’s announcement and other information, confirmed that the two hostages are in fact dead.
Despite the announcement coming on the same day that the IDF is calling for an evacuation of Palestinians from Khan Yunis, seemingly in preparation for a re-invasion of the area, the military said there was no connection between the two events.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the announcement on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday afternoon. “My wife Sara and I received with deep pain and sorrow the news that the late Yagev Buchshtab and the late Alex Dancyg, who were kidnapped by Hamas, are no longer alive. Our hearts go out to the dear families in their heavy grief. I am committed to bringing home all of our abductees – both alive and dead,” he said.
IDF did not disclose circumstances of hostages' deaths
The IDF did not disclose the exact circumstances of the hostages’ deaths or that it was completely certain that the IDF had caused it, but said that based on new intelligence – including the fact that the military was operating in certain areas of Khan Yunis at the time in question – it is likely that they were mistakenly killed by Israeli forces.
Generally speaking, the IDF has a standing order not to attack areas where there is intelligence that hostages might be being kept nearby.
To that extent, it has called off dozens of operations, if not more, against Hamas throughout the war to avoid harming hostages.
However, there have been multiple cases where the IDF mistakenly killed hostages.
The decision to confirm their deaths was made in consultation with the military rabbinate, the Health Ministry, and forensics officials.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.