Hostages forum: 2 captives in Gaza died
JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum (HMFF) announced on Monday that two captives held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza had died.
The deaths of Yagev Buchshtab, 35, and Alex Dancyg, 76, who were abducted during the 7 October attack by Hamas, were a “stark reminder of the urgency” to bring the hostages home, the forum said in a statement.
It did not provide any information on how they had died.
“Their bodies are being held by the Hamas terror organization,” the Israeli military said in a separate statement.
“The circumstances of their death in Hamas captivity are being examined by all the professional authorities.”
Buchshtab was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nirim along with his wife Rimon Buchshtab-Kirsht, who was released after 50 days in captivity, the forum said.
Dancyg worked at Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to victims of the Holocaust, where he trained thousands of guides, it added.
He had come to Israel at the age of nine with his parents, who had survived the Holocaust.
He was a leading expert on the history of Jews in Poland and author of several tourist books translated in several languages.
Hostages who were held captive with him said Dancyg spent his time in captivity giving history lectures to fellow captives, the forum said.
“The news of his tragic death reinforces our commitment to ensuring that Alex’s legacy and the stories he passionately preserved are never forgotten,” Dani Dayan, the president of Yad Vashem, said in a statement.
Naama Egozi, an academic at the institute, said his death was “a huge loss for us.”
“He knew so many things and he passed on his knowledge,” Egozi, who called Dancyg her mentor and had known him for almost 25 years, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
In May, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Dancyg’s son Youval told AFP during a visit to Krakow that he “dreamed of coming back here with my father so that he could explain each place to me.”
A promoter of dialogue between Israel and Poland, his death was mourned by Poland’s foreign ministry, which described him as “a man of peace and friendship who greatly contributed to Jewish-Polish dialogue,” in a post on X.
“Yagev and Alex were taken alive and should have returned alive to their families and to their country,” the forum said.
“Their death in captivity is a tragic reflection of the consequences of foot-dragging in negotiations,” it said, referring to ceasefire talks that have dragged on for months.
70 die in Khan Yunis
Meanwhile, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Monday that an Israeli operation in the main southern city of Khan Yunis killed 70 people and wounded more than 200, after Israel warned its forces would “forcefully operate” in the area.
Thousands of Palestinians fled southern areas of the territory following the Israeli army’s temporary evacuation order for parts of Khan Yunis, including the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone.
Israel’s military said it would act to curb rocket fire in the area, which saw heavy fighting earlier this year.
The latest incident comes days after the health ministry said 92 people were killed in a strike on Al-Mawasi, when Israel said it was targeting a Hamas commander.
