Six Israeli hostages found in Khan Younis bore bullet wounds, suggesting Hamas executed them during raid

The corpses of six Israeli hostages found by Israeli forces in southern Gaza earlier this week all bore gunshot wounds, suggesting they were shot dead by their Hamas captors, IDF representatives said.

The Israel Defense Forces released initial autopsy findings on the bodies of Alex Dancyg, Yagev Buchshtav, Chaim Peri, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, and Avraham Munder, which were all recovered from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis earlier this week.

While the autopsy findings are still far from conclusive, Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the IDF is convinced the six hostages were executed by Hamas fighters during the rescue operation conducted overnight between Monday and Tuesday this week.

The IDF’s theory was bolstered by the discovery of four more bodies near the hostages. Those bodies, believed to be Hamas militants, found no signs of bullet wounds or gunfire.

All 10 bodies were found in a 10m deep tunnel shaft obscured by a false wall, according to The Times of Israel.

Israel’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum released a statement saying the discovery of the bullet wounds on the dead hostages was “further proof of the cruelty of the terrorists who have been holding 109 hostages for 321 days.

“In every minute that the deal is not completed, another hostage could lose their life. After 10 and a half months of war in which the hostages have been suffering, tortured and dying, it is clear to all that the return of the hostages is only possible through a deal.”

That deal to free the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas is the focus of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, and which resumed in Cairo overnight on Thursday.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that a delegation from his country - which included David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad foreign intelligence service - arrived in the Egyptian capital to resume efforts to salvage a ceasefire deal.

A US official confirmed the talks were underway as the White House pushes Israel and Hamas to come to terms on a bridging proposal that would lead to a cease-fire in Gaza.

The official said Brett McGurk, the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, was among the officials leading the American delegation.

It remained unclear if Thursday’s talks would lead to another round of indirect negotiations with Hamas as hopes for achieving a cease-fire, at least in the near term, have diminished with Israel and Hamas.

Hamas and Israel have signalled that challenges remain amid significant differences over the presence of Israeli troops in two strategic corridors in Gaza and other issues.

Meanwhile Palestinian health officials say Israeli strikes have killed at least 16 more people in the Gaza Strip.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital received the bodies, including the remains of a woman and three children, after strikes overnight and into Thursday. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital counted the bodies.

A man held the body of a child wrapped in a white shroud as a woman next to him wept, saying: “My love, my soul.”

The Israeli offensive launched in response to Hamas’ October 7 attack has killed over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants or civilians.

Hamas and other militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack and abducted around 250. Around 110 hostages are still inside Gaza, a third of whom - not including the six found this week - are believed to be dead.