Hamas’s military wing alleged on Saturday that three elderly Israelis were among five hostages allegedly killed in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip.
The terrorist group claimed that five hostages, including Israelis Chaim Peri, Yoram Metsger and Amiram Cooper, were killed since contact was lost with Hamas members tasked with protecting them, the Al-Qassam Brigades posted on Telegram.
The two additional hostages were not named in the post.
Peri, 79, Metzger, 80, and Cooper, 84, were kidnapped by Hamas at Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7 massacre.
Earlier this week, the men appeared together in a disturbing video that Hamas shared on social media.
In the footage, the three Israelis, all with uncut beards after 10 weeks in captivity, are seen sitting side by side in front of the camera.
The group was “suffering a lot in very harsh conditions,” Peri said in the images.
Chaim Peri, Yoram Metsger and Amiram Cooper were taken hostage by Hamas on October 7. Getty Images
He pleaded with Israel to secure his release.
Israel later denounced the cruel clip as a “criminal and terrorist video” that was indicative of Hamas’ “cruelty against very elderly, innocent civilians in need of medical care.”
Peri, a film professor and activist, was kidnapped from his kibbutz home while trying to protect his wife behind a sofa, his family told media.
The bodies of Palestinians murdered in Gaza on Saturday. Getty Images Chaim Peri, Yoram Metsger and Amiram Cooper were taken hostage by Hamas on October 7. HAMAS via REUTERS
She eventually handed herself over to the Hamas invaders to ensure she remained hidden, they said.
“It doesn’t look good, to tell the truth. He looks thin and tired and not himself,” Peri’s daughter, Noam Peri, told PBS News Hour after seeing her father in the terrorist video.
“He looks sad. It was difficult. It was hard to see him like that,” she lamented, adding that he believes his father was speaking in “her own words” in the video.
Two women cry amid the Israeli bombing of Gaza. fake images
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Metzger was kidnapped along with his wife, Tamar Metzger, 78, who was released in mid-November, the Times of Israel reported.
Metzger has diabetes and still had limited mobility due to a hip fracture, his family told the outlet.
“It was a joy for a moment to see them alive. It was shocking to see them like this, with long beards, having lost weight and looking weak and pale,” his daughter-in-law Ayala Metzger said this week about the Hamas video.
Cooper, an economist, was one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz and was also kidnapped with his wife, Nurit, the Times of Israel said.
After Nurit was released on October 23, she told her family about her horrific kidnapping.
During the first weeks of their captivity, the Coopers were together with five other members of the kibbutz, their son later explained. His place of detention was so dark and dark that it was impossible to tell if it was day or night, he said.
Hamas’ claim that the three men were killed by an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip comes less than two weeks after the Israel Defense Forces admitted that they mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages while on patrol in the city of Loop.
Gaza has been subject to retaliatory bombing by Israel since October 7.
The massive military effort is believed to have killed around 20,000 people, according to unconfirmed reports from the area’s Hamas-linked Health Ministry.
Hamas does not differentiate between civilian deaths and deaths of its fighters.
With post cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn