A woman holds a photo of Israeli hostage Yagev Buchshtab as people hold up pictures of other hostages while attending a protest calling for a ceasefire and hostage deal to halt the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, outside the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, April 9, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Monday that it confirmed the deaths of two more Israeli hostages being held in captivity by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
Alex Dancyg, 75, and Yagev Buchshtav, 35, were abducted from their homes in kibbutzim near the border with Gaza during Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. According to the Israeli military, the two were believed to have been held together by Hamas in Khan Younis, where they died some months ago while the IDF was operating there.
The military is still investigating their deaths and did not release further details on the exact circumstances surrounding them. According to Israeli media reports, the investigation is looking into the possibility that they were killed accidentally by Israeli fire.
“Yagev and Alex were taken alive and should have returned alive to their families and to their country,” the Hostage Families Forum said in a statement. “Their death in captivity is a tragic reflection of the consequences of foot-dragging in negotiations.”
The IDF’s announcement came as Egypt, Qatar, and the US continued to broker ongoing talks between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire to halt fighting in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by Hamas, and release at least some of the hostages.
Dancyg, a historian, and Buchshtav, a sound technician, were among the approximately 250 people kidnapped as hostages and brought back to Gaza by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists during their Oct. 7 invasion of the Jewish state. About 1,200 people were murdered during the onslaught.
Mounting evidence has revealed that the terrorists perpetrated systematic sexual violence, including torture and gang-rape, during their rampage across southern Israel. Meanwhile, released hostages have recounted suffering sexual assault and abuse during their time in captivity.
The International March of the Living, an annual Holocaust education program founded in 1988, released a statement mourning the death of Dancyg, who was one of the founders of youth trips to Poland and a person “who promoted Israeli-Polish dialogue and educated generations of teachers and students about Holocaust remembrance.”
The March of the Living brings people from around the world to Poland each year for Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day — known as Yom HaShoah — to march on the path leading from Auschwitz I to Auschwitz II-Birkenau, visiting the site of the infamous Nazi concentration camp to commemorate the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust by the Nazis.
“In the 2024 March of the Living, his [Dancyg’s] son Yuval participated in the delegation of victims of Oct. 7, alongside Holocaust survivors, released hostages, and family members of hostages still in captivity,” the organization said in a statement. “During the march, we prayed for his return and the return of all the hostages. On this difficult day, we wish to share in the deep sorrow of the family, who moved mountains to bring Alex home alive. May his memory be blessed.”
Dancyg also had Polish citizenship, and Poland’s foreign ministry commented on his death.
“Poland will continue to demand the unconditional release of all the abductees from Gaza,” the ministry said.
The IDF has now confirmed the deaths of 44 of the roughly 120 remaining hostages in Gaza. Over 100 of the hostages were released as part of a temporary truce in November. Others have been freed during Israeli rescue operations, some dead and others alive.
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