Esther Buchstab, the mother of dead hostage Yagev Buchstab, whose body was recovered from Gaza in August, revealed to a Knesset committee after she received his autopsy report on Sunday that Yagev had been murdered by Hamas, Israeli media reported on Monday.
Yagev "was executed" while being held in Hamas captivity, his mother said.
As was the case with the six hostages returned to Israel last week, Buchstab said the autopsy revealed "the army came close to the tunnel area, and [the hostages] were executed," according to N12. The six hostages rescued from Gaza last week were similarly executed shortly before rescue.
"Military pressure does not return hostages alive; it kills them. I don't think the army is to blame for this; it is the government's policy."
Buchstab made the comments on Monday at the Committee for the Treatment of Holocaust Survivors chaired by MK Merav Cohen.
"He was kidnapped alive," Buchstab said in the Knesset. "There was a sign of life from him. The hostages who returned, including his wife, were with him. He should have returned alive. He returned dead, murdered."
She added that the autopsy report gave details of the execution, she said.
"The hostages who returned last week, the same story. It took a long time before they were able to get them out, but they were executed."
Details of the return
Yagev Buchstab's body, alongside the bodies of Nadav Popplewell, Yoram Metzger, Haim Peri, Alexander Dancyg, and Avraham Munder, were rescued from Gaza on August 20. Evidence of bullet wounds was found on the bodies of the hostages, the IDF confirmed at the time. The preliminary findings suggested the hostages may have been killed by friendly fire.
However, this news may indicate otherwise.