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Kibbutz Confirms Death of Two Israeli Hostages Featured in Latest Hamas Video, Says Bodies Held by Terror Group
The bloodied aftermath of a kindergarten in Kibbutz Be’eri attacked by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. Photo: Reuters/Amir Cohen
Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel announced on Tuesday that two of its residents, Itay Svirsky and Yossi Sharabi, were killed in Gaza and that their bodies remain in the hands of the Hamas terror group.
“The abductees Itay Svirsky and Yossi Sharabi were murdered in captivity and their bodies are held by Hamas,” kibbutz officials said, calling for their bodies to be returned for burial and for the release of all hostages in Gaza.
Svirsky, 38, and Sharabi, 53, were among the 240 hostages kidnapped by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists during their Oct. 7 onslaught across southern Israel. The massacre, in which 1,200 people were murdered, triggered the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by the terror group.
Israeli officials have said they will continue their military campaign in Gaza until all the hostages are freed and Hamas is incapacitated to the point that it no longer poses a serious threat to Israel. About 130 hostages remain in Gaza after over 100 were released as part of a temporary Israel-Hamas truce in late November.
Svirsky, Sharabi, and 26-year-old Noa Argamani — who was filmed on now-viral video being abducted from the Nova music festival during Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre — were featured in a chilling video released by Hamas on Sunday. The terror group showed undated, edited-together clips of all three identifying themselves to the camera, describing their plight, and asking to go home.
The 37-second clip, which marked 100 days since the hostages’ abduction, ended with the chyron: “Tomorrow [Monday] we will inform you of their fate.”
Hamas then teased in a follow-up video, released on Monday, that the three hostages could either be killed, injured, or spared, asking viewers for their opinions. The video showed the three hostages’ faces.
“What do you think?” the Palestinian terrorists said of the captives. Hamas then offered three options for the innocent victims: all three are killed; “some are killed, some are injured,” or all three are spared.
It ended with the message: “Tonight we will inform you of their fate.”
Later on Monday, Hamas released a new video of Argamani, evidently under distress and seemingly reading a script in front of a blank white wall, being forced to report that Svirsky and Sharabi were dead. She said that her fellow captives were killed by Israeli air strikes targeting Hamas.
Israel’s chief military spokesperson disputed some of Hamas’ claims, specifying that Svirsky was not killed by Israeli fire.
“Itay was not killed by our forces. This is a Hamas lie. The building where they were held was not a target and was not attacked by our forces,” said IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. “We don’t attack a place if we know there may be hostages inside.” Hagari noted that areas nearby had been targeted.
The Israeli army reportedly believes that Argamani is alive.
The videos were the latest in what Israel has described as Hamas’ “psychological warfare” and “torment” since the outbreak of war in October, meant to cause distress in Israeli society and pressure Jerusalem to stop its military campaign in Gaza.
Kibbutz Be’eri was one of the hardest hit Israeli communities during the atrocities of Oct. 7. It was almost completely burnt down by Hamas terrorists, who killed about 130 people there — a staggering 10 percent of the kibbutz’s residents. Several others were taken as hostages.
The post Kibbutz Confirms Death of Two Israeli Hostages Featured in Latest Hamas Video, Says Bodies Held by Terror Group 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.