IDF Announces Deaths of Four Hostages Hy”d, Bodies Held in Gaza

By FrumNews.com 

The IDF announced on Monday the deaths of four Jewish hostages Hy”d, Haim Perry, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Cooper, and Nadav Popplewell. The IDF stated they were brutally abducted to the Gaza Strip on Simchas Torah and were killed by Hamas terrorists, their bodies were held in Gaza.

Perry, Metzger and Cooper were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Popelwell was taken from Nirim.

On October 23, Cooper’s wife Nurit was released to Israel as part of a temporary cease-fire deal, and Metzger’s wife, Tami, was released from Hamas captivity on November 28.

The IDF stated that the decision to pronounce the four hostages dead was based on intelligence and was confirmed by a Ministry of Health expert committee, in coordination with the Ministry of Religious Services and the Chief Rabbi of Israel. 

The IDF added that the circumstances of their death in Hamas captivity are still under examination.

“The IDF uses a wide variety of methods to gather information about the hostages who remain in the Gaza Strip.” The IDF said, “The IDF and the relevant security authorities will continue to accompany the hostages’ families.”

IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said, “Today we shared the devastating news with the families of 85-year-old Amiram Cooper, one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz, 80-year-old Haim Perry from Kibbutz Nir Oz, 80-year-old Yoram Metzger from Kibbutz Nir Oz and 51-year-old Israeli-British citizen Nadav Popplewell from Kibbutz Nirim, that their loved ones were killed a few months ago during Hamas captivity in Gaza. Their bodies are still being held by Hamas.”

IDF representatives have informed the families of the deaths of the four hostages.

Recently, the IDF rescued seven bodies of hostages – Shani Louk, Amit Buskila, Ron Benjamin, Yitzchak Gelernter, Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez Hy”d – and returned them for kevura in Eretz Yisroel. All seven were murdered by Hamas terrorists on Simchas Torah, and their bodies were kidnapped to Gaza.