Four Israeli men, including a dual British citizen, who were taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 died in captivity in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces said on Monday.
“IDF officials informed the families of Haim Perry, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Cooper and Nadav Popelwell, 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 announced.
דובר צה"ל תא"ל הגרי בהודעה: החטופים חיים פרי, יורם מצגר, עמירם קופר ונדב פופלוול נהרגו בשבי וגופותיהם מוחזקות בידי חמאס. כך נקבע לאור מידע מודיעיני שהתקבל. ההערכה - נהרגו במרחב חאן יונס בעת שצה"ל פעל באזור pic.twitter.com/4joA0eXSM9
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Perry, Metzger and Cooper were abducted from their homes during the Hamas terrorist onslaught on Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Dual Israeli-British national Nadav Popplewell, 51, was kidnapped along with his mother, Chana Perry, 79, from Kibbutz Nirim. His brother Roi Popplewell, 54, was killed by terrorists near his home in the kibbutz.
Chana Perry was freed by Hamas on Nov. 24 under the ceasefire-for-hostages agreement with the terrorist organization.
Last month, Hamas released a propaganda video showing Popplewell with an eye injury. It was unclear when the footage was filmed.
On May 18, British Ambassador to Israel Simon Walters told a rally at Tel Aviv’s “Hostage Square” 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.
One hundred twenty-five captives remain in Gaza out of the 252 kidnapped during the Oct. 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.
Earlier on Monday, the IDF announced that the corpse 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.
