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IDF Confirms Deaths of Two More Israeli Hostages in Hamas Captivity in Gaza
A woman holds a photo of Israeli hostage Yagev Buchshtab as people hold up pictures of other hostages while attending a protest calling for a ceasefire and hostage deal to halt the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, outside the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, April 9, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Monday that it confirmed the deaths of two more Israeli hostages being held in captivity by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
Alex Dancyg, 75, and Yagev Buchshtav, 35, were abducted from their homes in kibbutzim near the border with Gaza during Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. According to the Israeli military, the two were believed to have been held together by Hamas in Khan Younis, where they died some months ago while the IDF was operating there.
The military is still investigating their deaths and did not release further details on the exact circumstances surrounding them. According to Israeli media reports, the investigation is looking into the possibility that they were killed accidentally by Israeli fire.
“Yagev and Alex were taken alive and should have returned alive to their families and to their country,” the Hostage Families Forum said in a statement. “Their death in captivity is a tragic reflection of the consequences of foot-dragging in negotiations.”
The IDF’s announcement came as Egypt, Qatar, and the US continued to broker ongoing talks between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire to halt fighting in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by Hamas, and release at least some of the hostages.
Dancyg, a historian, and Buchshtav, a sound technician, were among the approximately 250 people kidnapped as hostages and brought back to Gaza by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists during their Oct. 7 invasion of the Jewish state. About 1,200 people were murdered during the onslaught.
Mounting evidence has revealed that the terrorists perpetrated systematic sexual violence, including torture and gang-rape, during their rampage across southern Israel. Meanwhile, released hostages have recounted suffering sexual assault and abuse during their time in captivity.
The International March of the Living, an annual Holocaust education program founded in 1988, released a statement mourning the death of Dancyg, who was one of the founders of youth trips to Poland and a person “who promoted Israeli-Polish dialogue and educated generations of teachers and students about Holocaust remembrance.”
The March of the Living brings people from around the world to Poland each year for Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day — known as Yom HaShoah — to march on the path leading from Auschwitz I to Auschwitz II-Birkenau, visiting the site of the infamous Nazi concentration camp to commemorate the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust by the Nazis.
“In the 2024 March of the Living, his [Dancyg’s] son Yuval participated in the delegation of victims of Oct. 7, alongside Holocaust survivors, released hostages, and family members of hostages still in captivity,” the organization said in a statement. “During the march, we prayed for his return and the return of all the hostages. On this difficult day, we wish to share in the deep sorrow of the family, who moved mountains to bring Alex home alive. May his memory be blessed.”
Dancyg also had Polish citizenship, and Poland’s foreign ministry commented on his death.
“Poland will continue to demand the unconditional release of all the abductees from Gaza,” the ministry said.
The IDF has now confirmed the deaths of 44 of the roughly 120 remaining hostages in Gaza. Over 100 of the hostages were released as part of a temporary truce in November. Others have been freed during Israeli rescue operations, some dead and others alive.
The post IDF Confirms Deaths of Two More Israeli Hostages in Hamas Captivity in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.