Hamas issued a new video on Monday in which it forced an Israeli hostage, Noa Argamani, announced the death of two other hostages who had appeared in another video with Argamani the day before.
The video apparently took the form of a guessing game, in which viewers were asked to guess which of the hostages survived.
Hamas claims that the two were killed in an Israeli airstrike and that Argamani was also wounded, but survived.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would not confirm those claims. However, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement on Monday evening (translation via IDF):
Over the last day, Hamas has published videos about hostages, cruelly exploiting innocent people being held hostage. This evening, I would like to provide an update on the information available to us about these events, after we notified the families.
Itai, Noa, and another hostage whose family asked not to say his name, were kidnapped to Gaza in a criminal and violent manner by the Hamas terror organization on October 7th.
Itai Svirsky, 38, had gone to his parents’ home in Kibbutz Be’eri to celebrate the festival of Simchat Torah. His parents were murdered by Hamas terrorists, and he was abducted.
Noa Argamani, 26, was abducted from the “Nova” party along with her partner, Avinatan. The Nova party symbolized what is good and the joy of life for the youth. The image of Noa, on a motorcycle, surrounded by terrorists and crying out for help, strikes the heart of every person in the country and the world.
While we have received a sign of life from Noa, I refer to the description that emerges from the video regarding the fate of Itai and the additional captive:
Itai was not shot by our forces – this is a Hamas lie. The building where they were being held was not a target, and it was not struck by our forces.
We did not know their real-time location; we do not strike in places where we know there may be hostages. In hindsight, we know we struck targets near to the location where they were being held. We are investigating the event and its circumstances, examining the images distributed by Hamas, alongside additional information at our disposal.
Nevertheless, I wish to update that in recent days, IDF representatives met with the families of Itai and the additional captive and expressed grave concern for their fate, due to information available to us.
Even during these difficult hours, we are in constant contact with the families, updating them with the details we know about their loved ones. We will continue to update them with every piece of verified information we have before then notifying the public.
Hamas tries to sow fear by exploiting the fact that Israeli society sanctifies the lives of its people.
Yes, Israeli society sanctifies the lives of its people. This is our strength – our concern for our citizens and our determination to return the hostages. We are operating using every means to bring them back home and to prevent harm to them. This is our compass on the battlefield – our moral obligation.
As Breitbart News noted on Sunday, Argamani is one of the most well-known of the roughly 130 remaining hostages in Gaza.
She was abducted from the Supernova music festival, and her mother, who is dying of brain cancer, has pleaded for her release.
Updated: Kibbutz Be’eri confirmed Tuesday that Sharabi and Svirski had been murdered in captivity.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the 2021 e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now updated with a new foreword. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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