More than a third of the remaining 120 October 7 hostages are dead, Israel says… as officials reveal many of the recovered bodies showed signs of execution

Israel believes that more than a third of the hostages taken to the Gaza Strip on October 7 are now dead, eight months after they were kidnapped. 

Of the 251 who were taken by Hamas following its brutal incursion into Israel, some of whom were already dead when they were taken back to the Palestinian territory to be used as bargaining chips, 120 people are still being held in Gaza, and it is believed that 41 hostages have died in Hamas’ hands. 

While this number includes the 25 people who died in the October 7 attacks and whose bodies were taken to the Gaza Strip to be used as bargaining chips, officials said bodies showed signs of execution. 

The IDF said on Monday night that the bodies of Haim Perry, 80, Yoram Metzger, 80, Amiram Cooper, 84, and British citizen Nadav Popplewell, 51, were all killed after they were taken into Gaza on October 7. 

The military added that the four men were killed somewhere in Khan Younis, in the centre of the Gaza Strip, several months ago.  

There are still 79 hostages who may still be alive in Gaza, made up of 72 Israelis, some of whom have more than one nationality, six Thai nationals and one Nepalese national. 

A demonstrator poses as the Statue of Liberty as supporters and families of hostages, who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas

Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas

Kfir Bibas, who was nine months old when he was kidnapped from Nir Oz kibbutz, alongside his mother Shiri, 32, and his then four-year-old brother Ariel, is the youngest hostage still believed to be in captivity. 

His relatives held a first birthday party for the red-headed boy in his absence in January.

But Hamas has said all three of them were killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza. Israel has yet to confirm their deaths or whether they are still alive.

The children’s father Yarden is still being held hostage. There are no other child hostages known to be in Gaza.

Thirteen women, aged 18-39, are still being held by Palestinian militants.

They include five women, aged 18-19, who were performing their military service when they were kidnapped.

The damaged Al Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital and the area around it following a two-week operation

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip

As soldiers, they were excluded from November’s prisoner swap.

On Wednesday, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum released a three-minute video of the five women as they were being kidnapped on October 7.

There are also 64 men still being held in the Gaza Strip, three of whom are in their seventies and two of whom are in their eighties.

Others are young men who were serving in the military at the time of the October 7 attack.

A number of the male hostages were taken alongside family members, including some with their children, who were then released during the November truce.

A total of 112 prisoners were released alive during a week-long truce in November, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Israel has also repatriated the bodies of 19 dead hostages, including three hostages killed by Israeli forces who mistook them for Hamas fighters.