The Israeli military announced on Sunday that, based on an internal investigation, three hostages were probably killed as a result of an airstrike targeting a senior Hamas commander in November.
The investigation’s findings highlight the precarious circumstances of hostages in the Gaza Strip, who — like Palestinian civilians — are vulnerable to Israel’s military operations in the territory.
The findings also suggest that at least some senior Hamas officials have surrounded themselves with hostages.
In its statement, the Israeli military said it was “highly likely” that the hostages, Cpl. Nik Beizer, Sgt. Ron Sherman and Elia Toledano, had been killed “as a result of a byproduct” of an Israeli military strike targeting Ahmed al-Ghandour, the commander of Hamas’s military wing in northern Gaza.
The military said it was presenting “a high-probability assessment” based on where the hostages’ bodies were found in December, as well as intelligence materials, an analysis of the strike, pathological reports and the conclusions of forensic examiners. Definitively determining the cause of their deaths, the military said, was not possible.
“The I.D.F. shares in the grief of the families over the devastating loss,” the military said.
The three hostages, the investigation indicated, were in a tunnel complex used by Mr. al-Ghandour, a top official whose death Hamas later acknowledged. The Israeli military said it had information at the time suggesting that the hostages were in another place.
A group representing families of hostages said the investigation’s conclusions illustrated “the severe risk to the lives of the hostages in captivity.”
“Each passing moment endangers them further,” the Hostages Families Forum said in a statement. “We know the hostages are held in inhumane conditions, tortured by Hamas and deprived of basic human rights.”
The announcement on Sunday came as advocates for the hostages and their families were demanding that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, do more to secure a deal with Hamas for the release of the hostages still in Gaza, even if that allows Hamas to survive the war with Israel.
During the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks, militants abducted roughly 250 people and took them to Gaza, including women, children and elderly people. Around 100, dozens of them still alive, are still in Gaza, according to the Israeli authorities.
Mr. Netanyahu and his supporters want to hold out for a deal that would make it easier for the Israeli military to continue fighting Hamas after a short truce — even if playing hardball delays the hostages’ freedom and results in more of them dying in captivity. Hamas has demanded a permanent end to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
The prime minister has also said a central part of his strategy to bring hostages home is to put constant military pressure on Hamas, though many analysts and critics say this approach has put the captives at risk.
Since soldiers discovered the bodies of six hostages in a subterranean tunnel in southern Gaza in late August, a number of major protests in support of bringing the hostages home have occurred in Tel Aviv. Israeli officials have said Hamas militants killed the hostages, citing autopsy results showing that each had been shot in the head.
In recent weeks, Qatar, Egypt and the United States have tried to bring Israel and Hamas closer to a deal but have yet to achieve a breakthrough.
In December, Israeli soldiers mistakenly shot and killed three hostages in northern Gaza.
Many hostages who were released during a short-lived cease-fire in November have since recounted living in fear of Israeli strikes while in captivity.
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