According to the report from Reuters, in a disturbing turn of events, Hamas has seemingly unveiled the lifeless bodies of two Israeli hostages, Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itai Svirsky, 38, on Monday.
The Palestinian militant group had issued a warning to Israel, stating that the hostages might meet their demise unless Israel ceased its bombardment of Gaza.
The release of a new video showcased the aforementioned victims, who had previously appeared in a video on Sunday.
Additionally, the footage included a third Israeli hostage, 26-year-old university student Noa Argamani, reading a scripted statement in front of a blank white wall, attributing the deaths of Sharabi and Svirsky to Israeli strikes.
Israel's military spokesperson expressed serious concern about the fate of the hostages depicted as deceased in the video.
However, the spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, refuted Hamas' claim regarding Svirsky, asserting, "Itai was not shot by our forces. That is a Hamas lie. The building in which they were held was not a target and it was not attacked by our forces."
Hagari, respecting the family's request, refrained from providing details about the second person.
He emphasized the Israeli military's commitment to avoiding attacks on locations where hostages might be present, stating, "We don't attack a place if we know there may be hostages inside."
Approximately half of these hostages were released during a brief truce in November, but Israel contends that 132 remain in Gaza, with 25 reportedly losing their lives while in captivity.
The hostages were initially presented in a Hamas video on Sunday, where the group urged the Israeli government to halt its aerial and ground offensive to secure their release. The video concluded with a chilling caption: "Tomorrow (Monday) we will inform you of their fate."
Israeli officials have generally refrained from responding to Hamas' public communications on the hostage situation. Forensic officials have contradicted Hamas' narrative, indicating that autopsies on recovered hostages revealed causes of death inconsistent with the claim that they perished in air strikes.
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