The IDF successfully retrieved the remains of six hostages from a tunnel in Gaza during a covert night operation on Monday night. The mission, based on intelligence from Israel's security agencies, marks a significant but heartbreaking milestone in the efforts to recover those taken captive.
In a nighttime operation spanning Monday to Tuesday, Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six hostages from Gaza: Avraham Munder (whose fate had been previously unknown), Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, Alexander Dancyg, Yagev Buchshtab, and Haim Peri.
The State of Israel will continue to make every effort to return all of our hostages – the living and the deceased.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) August 20, 2024
The recovery mission, orchestrated using intelligence from the Shin Bet and Military Intelligence Directorate, led to the discovery of the remains inside a tunnel network in the Hamad neighborhood of central Khan Younis. While the approach to the tunnel involved firefights with nearby fighters, the forces encountered no resistance within the tunnel itself. Following the retrieval, the IDF completed the identification process before delivering the devastating news to the families of the deceased hostages.
The operation remains active, with forces continuing to scour the tunnel for any additional remains or intelligence that could prove valuable to the IDF. Military officials are hailing this as a significant achievement for the 98th Division, which is currently deployed in Gaza. The complex mission involved a coordinated effort from the 98th Division, 35th Brigade, engineering units, the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit, the Shin Bet, and Unit 504, the human intelligence arm of the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate.
"Overnight our forces returned the bodies of six of our hostages that had been held by the murderous Hamas terrorist organization: Avraham Munder, Alex Dancyg, Chaim Peri, Yagev Buchshtab, Yoram Metzger and Nadav Popplewell – of blessed memory," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on X on Tuesday morning. "Our hearts grieve over the terrible loss. My wife Sara and I convey our heartfelt condolences to the dear families. I would like to thank the brave IDF and Shin Bet fighters and commanders for their heroism and determined action. The State of Israel will continue to make every effort to return all of our hostages – the living and the deceased."
Kibbutz Nir Oz said that Dancyg's body was retrieved after he was "tortured for months and his body was returned today to his family, who will now bid him a final farewell and bury him in the soil of Israel." The kibbutz added that Dancyg, a father of 4 and grandfather of 12, "dedicated his life to teaching and instruction on the Holocaust and relationship between Jews and Poles, and working the fields he loved so much." He was born to Holocaust survivors and played a key role in establishing educational trips to Poland. He trained numerous guides who accompanied groups visiting concentration camps.
Avraham Munder's son Roi, was murdered on Oct. 7, when terrorists invaded the kibbutz. Munder's 9-year-old grandson, Ohad, was also kidnapped, as was his wife Ruth and his daughter Karen. But the 79-year-old Avraham remained in captivity after the three were returned to Israel as part of the November 2023 hostage deal. "He was a loving person, he loved to sing," the kibbutz said in the statement announcing his body's return. "We will always remember him, with his clear voice, his warm smile and his never-ending love to his family and the kibbutz.
In June, eight months after the Hamas Oct. 7 atrocities, another four hostages were announced dead, among them Popplewell, 51; Metzger, 80, and Peri, 79.
Several weeks earlier, Hamas released a propaganda video showing British-Israeli hostage Popplewell. He was taken hostage with his mother, Channah Peri, 79, from their home in Kibbutz Nirim during the Hamas onslaught on Oct. 7. His brother, Roi Popplewell, 54, was killed by terrorists near his home in the kibbutz. In the 10-second video, Popplewell, who appears to be suffering from an eye injury, just about manages to introduce himself. It is unclear when the footage was filmed.
Then in July, Israeli officials notified the families of Dancyg and Buchshtab that the two hostages were killed in Gaza several months earlier, with their bodies now held by the Hamas terrorist organization. The decision to declare their deaths was based on recently corroborated intelligence, which confirmed their status late Sunday. A special committee approved the determination, assessing that the men were killed in the Khan Younis area.
