The number living hostages is much lower than the number reported so far, mediators in the currently stalled cease-fire and hostage release negotiations and a U.S. official claimed in interviews with the Wall Street Journal published on Thursday. According to them, it is possible that the number of hostages being held in Gaza that are still alive is only 50.
According to this assessment, based in part on intelligence held by the IDF, 66 of the 116 hostages from October 7 that remain in Gaza are dead.
There are four other Israeli hostages currently being held in Gaza: Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul were abducted during the 2014 Gaza War and their bodies are held in Gaza, as well as Israelis Avra Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who crossed the border on their own.
Washington and Jerusalem refused to comment on the numbers presented in the article. Hamas did not comment either but have told mediators in the cease-fire talks that it doesn’t know how many hostages are still alive.
On Thursday morning, protesters calling for the release of the hostages, including relatives of abductees, blocked the main Ayalon Highway, Highway 4 and Highway 2, demanding a deal be made as soon as possible.
The bodies of 19 hostages have been returned to Israel in rescue operations, including eight in the last three months. So far, Israel has announced that 41 hostages are dead, and if indeed the number 66 is the exact number - then this is 25 more than Israel has publicly acknowledged. In February, the Wall Street Journal reported that 50 hostages may already be dead, according to Israeli estimates that were also passed on to American and Egyptian officials.
The newspaper reported that the number of living hostages is one of the topics on the agenda in the negotiations for the deal. Israel initially refused to accept bodies of dead hostages in the first phase of the deal, but according to the latest proposal to Hamas - which was presented by the U.S. President Joe Biden - it will agree to accept bodies as well, along with living hostages.
Nearly two weeks ago, an Israeli operation rescued four living hostages from Gaza, but it is not likelu that there will be many more hostages recovered that way. “Along with the significant achievement, we must honestly say we will not be able to return everyone home in this way,” Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said after the successful operation. One of the rescued hostages, Andrey Kozlov, publicly called for a deal with Hamas to secure the release of those who remain in Gaza.
The headquarters of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said in response to the WSJ report that "the State of Israel is obligated to return all hostages who were abandoned on October 7. This sacred duty does not distinguish between the return of hostages alive for rehabilitation and the return of the murdered and the martyrs for burial. The State of Israel is obligated to return all the hostages home, to their country. Violation of this sacred principle is a breach of trust and the founding Israeli ethos of mutual protection. The international community must act for the return of all 120 hostages and support the Netanyahu deal. Time is running out for the hostages."
Israeli officials said that most of the hostages who were presumed dead were murdered on October 7, but confirmed that some of them were killed by Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip. Israel uses a precise set of forensic rules to determine whether hostages have died, and has established a small committee of medical experts to review classified intelligence to determine this. Alongside this, there is also reliance on videos filmed by Hamas and obtained by Israel in Gaza.
“We were able to determine the death of people that we know were alive and we know how their life ended over there,” says Professor Ofer Merin, a member of the committee and director general at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. “We sit very quietly. We look at each frame. We listen to what happened. And we gather all this information.”
Yoni Levy, the father of hostage Naama Levy, who will have her 20th birthday on Saturday while still in Hamas captivity, said in an interview with Ynet that "a birthday in a normal world is a celebration of happiness, growth and freedom - but Naama's birthday will be anything but that. We will mark it with a lot of pain, concern and a lot of love and optimism."
"Part of the frustration is that between parents and children there is an unwritten contract that we will take care of them. There is also an expectation and a contract that the state and the leadership will take care of its citizens in moments of distress, such as these difficult moments - but this does not happen," according to the worried father.
"So much nonsense is being dealt with. The relations with the Americans, the integrity of the coalition and the laws - but the basic contract has been violated for a long time. The fate of our children, my daughter. The fate of everyone. This is the reality, it is unimaginable chaos. This is an imaginary reality. Enough! Stop this dance of demons. Start putting out fires instead of starting fires with these hollow slogans that say 'victory'"
Ifat Kalderon, the cousin of hostage Ofer Kalderon, participated in the protest blocking the Ayalon Highway on Thursday morning, and told Ynet that "it is a short but effective blockade, together with the women's protest as they support the most important struggle in the country – the return home of the hostages. It is a shame that the government and its leaders think there are things more important than other political pursuits - except to return them."
"Who thought they wouldn't be here at this point? This morning when we went down to Ayalon I asked - how long will we continue to do this? It's just not normal. People prefer to watch reality TV and the Euro championship and not deal with the hostages."
On Thursday morning, there were several protest centers and roadblocks throughout the country calling for the release of the hostages. Einav Tsengauker, a leader of the protest and the mother of hostage Matan Tsengauker, said: "You lost Netanyahu. You have no way to escape the guilt, it will go with you to the grave. You chose your political survival over your people. Over the kidnapped, the displaced, the reservists, the bereaved families. You chose to brief in the name of a political party, instead of admitting to the public that you failed. This failure will be written in the history books."
The demonstrators called on Netanyahu to resign and take responsibility for the massacre on October 7. "We lost our homes, and you have three. Here we are denying you access to your home, as hundreds of thousands of Israelis have experienced in the past year." A demonstration will be held in Caesarea Thursday evening led by the residents of the north, who have been evacuated from their homes for eight months.