Israeli experts declare some hostages dead

Hamas terrorists posted footage of the massacres on October 7 online. Israeli experts are now using the videos and photos to clarify the fate of the missing. It is meticulous and stressful work.

Around eight weeks after the Hamas attack, Israeli experts have declared some of the hostages abducted at the time to be dead. Her team based its decisions on video recordings and statements from released hostages, said commission head Hagar Misrahi from the Israeli Ministry of Health to Israeli radio station Kan.

In the current exceptional situation, it is possible to declare someone dead without a medical autopsy. The aim is to accommodate relatives. They should be given the opportunity to mourn if there is no longer any hope that their loved ones have survived. Since the end of the ceasefire on Friday, the Israeli authorities have declared six civilians and one army colonel dead in captivity.

In order to make such decisions, films of the Hamas raid on October 7 are being closely examined, Misrahi explained. These were recordings that the radical Islamists themselves had posted online. However, she and her team also relied on videos from Palestinians who had observed and filmed the attacks. There are also images from surveillance cameras.

Take after take

All of the material is gone through "over and over again, shot by shot", says Misrahi. Together with a forensic pathologist and a doctor specializing in physical trauma, she searches the footage for life-threatening injuries that the hostages may have suffered, as well as for apparently lifeless bodies. The violence of the hostage-takers, limited opportunities for adequate medical care and reports from released hostages about their deaths are also included in the assessment.

"Declaring someone dead is never easy - and certainly not in the situation we are in at the moment." When deciding to declare a hostage dead, there must be unanimity within her team, said Misrahi. The experts base their decision on the overall picture.

Of the approximately 240 hostages abducted on October 7, 108 were released during the temporary ceasefire. Hamas has stated that dozens of the hostages were killed in Israeli air strikes. The Islamist organization has also threatened to execute hostages. Hamas has also indicated that some of those taken hostage are in the hands of other Palestinian militias. The Israeli military has recovered the bodies of a soldier and two civilians. One female soldier was freed.

Misrahi said that so far all the families concerned had accepted the team's decision. But even if this is not the case, it is respected - for example, if a family is only prepared to mourn when a body is handed over. Misrahi's team is probably aware of the risk of making a mistake due to the case of an abducted girl. The father had already been informed unofficially about the death of his daughter during the Hamas attack. However, the child had been kidnapped and was released during the ceasefire.