The Israel Defense Forces announced on Monday the heart-wrenching news that four Israeli men, including a dual British citizen, who were taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, have died in captivity in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip.
“IDF officials informed the families of Haim Perry, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Cooper, and Nadav Popplewell, who were brutally abducted to the Gaza Strip, that they are no longer alive and their bodies are being held by the Hamas terrorist organization,” the military declared.
Perry, Metzger, and Cooper were kidnapped from their homes during the vicious Hamas terrorist onslaught on Kibbutz Nir Oz. Dual Israeli-British national Nadav Popplewell, 51, was cruelly kidnapped along with his mother, Chana Perry, 79, from Kibbutz Nirim. His brother, Roi Popplewell, 54, was brutally murdered by terrorists near his home in the kibbutz.
Chana Perry was released by Hamas on November 24 under the ceasefire-for-hostages agreement with the terrorist organization.
Utterly shattering. We have now leared that 4 hostages were murdered in Gaza. They are:
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) June 3, 2024
💔 Chaim Peri
💔 Yoram Metzger
💔 Amiram Cooper
💔 Nadav Popplewell
Chaim Peri, 80, from Kibbutz Nir Oz was abducted from the safe room in his home while protecting his wife.
Nadav… pic.twitter.com/zt2ntCEEth
Last month, Hamas had the audacity to release a propaganda video showing Popplewell with an eye injury, a stark reminder of their barbaric tactics. It was unclear when the footage was filmed.
On May 18, British Ambassador to Israel Simon Walters, at Tel Aviv’s “Hostage Square,” made a stirring promise that London would not abandon the captives.
“We will not forget you. We will not abandon you. We will continue to do everything that we can to bring them home,” vowed Walters. Yet, this latest tragedy raises the question: How much longer can the international community stand idly by while these atrocities continue?
It took 8 MONTHS for @IDF & anthropologists to identify Dolev Yehud, murdered in 10/7 massacre.
— מיכל קוטלר-וונש | Michal Cotler-Wunsh (@CotlerWunsh) June 3, 2024
A 36-yr-old father of 4, Dolev was a paramedic who left his home in Nir Oz that morning to save lives.
His sister Arbel is held hostage alongside 123 Israelis, in standing violation… pic.twitter.com/sNt57IJ1Db
One hundred twenty-five captives remain in Gaza out of the 252 kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas-led invasion. Earlier on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that his government was working “in countless ways” to free them.
“I think about them all the time. About their families, about their suffering,” the Israeli leader said, highlighting the constant anguish and torment faced by the families of the hostages.
Earlier on Monday, the IDF announced another grim discovery: the body of Dolev Yehud, an Israeli paramedic murdered by Hamas terrorists during the assault on Kibbutz Nir Oz, had been located inside the kibbutz grounds.
“Following a scientific identification and a thorough analysis by the IDF in coordination with anthropological experts, the body of Dolev Yehud was found in Kibbutz Nir Oz,” the IDF said, underscoring the relentless brutality of the Hamas terrorists.
🚨BREAKING:
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) June 3, 2024
4 hostages confirmed Dead.
🎗️Amiram Cooper, 84
🎗️Haim Perry, 79
🎗️Yoram Metzger, 80
🎗️Nadav Popplewell, 51
The IDF have confirmed the men, held hostage since Oct 7th, have died during captivity.
They previously appeared in propaganda videos- confirming they… pic.twitter.com/v2JS0ZwnX3
Israel believes that more than a third of the remaining Gaza hostages are dead, a government tally showed on Tuesday, as the United States sought to advance their recovery under a proposal to wind down the war with Hamas.
Of the approximately 250 people dragged into the Gaza Strip by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists during the October 7 cross-border massacres that sparked the war, scores were freed in a November truce, while others have been recovered—dead or alive—by Israeli troops.
The government tally said 120 remain in captivity, 43 of whom have been declared dead in absentia based on various sources of information, including intelligence tip-offs, CCTV, bystander videos, and forensic analysis.
Hamas, which threatened at the outset of the war to execute hostages in reprisal for Israeli air strikes, has since alleged such attacks caused hostage deaths. Israel has not ruled that out in all cases but has stated that some recovered hostage bodies showed signs of execution. The revelation that four more hostages were killed only goes to bolster these arguments.
The Israeli military says it has confirmed the deaths of four Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity, after obtaining new intelligence.
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 3, 2024
Chaim Peri, 79, Amiram Cooper, 84, Yoram Metzger, 80, and Nadav Popplewell, 51, were all believed by the IDF to have been held together by Hamas… pic.twitter.com/bQrhdUja1c
US President Joe Biden on Friday went public with an Israeli proposal to wind down the war, under which some hostages would go free during a preliminary ceasefire. But mediated efforts to clinch that deal have been bogged down as Israel insists on eventually resuming the campaign to destroy Hamas while the Palestinian terrorist group demands a guaranteed end to the war and withdrawal of all invasion forces.
How much longer can this unbearable human suffering be tolerated? How many more lives must be lost before the world takes decisive action against the relentless terror inflicted by Hamas? The anguish of the families and the victims cries out for justice, for peace, and for an end to this cycle of brutality.
