More than a third of the remaining 120 October 7 hostages are dead, Israel says… as officials reveal many of the recovered bodies showed signs of execution

Israel believes that more than a third of the hostages brought to the Gaza Strip on October 7 are now dead, eight months after they were first kidnapped.

Of the 251 people taken by Hamas after its brutal invasion of Israel, some of whom were already dead when they were returned to the Palestinian territory to be used as bargaining chips. There are still 120 people held in Gaza, and 41 hostages are believed to have died at the hands of Hamas.

Although this number is the 25 people killed in the October 7 attacks and whose bodies were brought to the Gaza Strip to be used as bargaining chips, officials said the bodies showed signs of execution.

The IDF said Monday evening that the bodies of Haim Perry, 80, Yoram Metzger, 80, Amiram Cooper, 84, and British citizen Nadav Popplewell, 51, had all been killed after being taken to Gaza on October 7.

The army added that the four men were killed several months ago somewhere in Khan Younis, in the center of the Gaza Strip.

There may still be 79 hostages living in Gaza, including 72 Israelis, some of whom have more than one nationality: six Thai nationals and one Nepalese national.

Hundreds of people demonstrate against the Israeli government, demanding that Israel stop its attacks on Gaza and return Israeli prisoners

A protester poses as the Statue of Liberty as supporters and families of hostages kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas

Smoke rises after Israeli attacks during an Israeli military operation, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas

Kfir Bibas, who was nine months old when he was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, is the youngest hostage believed to be still in captivity, along with his mother Shiri, 32, and his then four-year-old brother Ariel.

His relatives organized a first birthday party for the red-haired boy in January in his absence.

But Hamas has said all three were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza. Israel has yet to confirm their deaths or confirm their survival.

The children’s father, Yarden, is still being held hostage. There are no other known child hostages in Gaza.

Thirteen women aged 18 to 39 are still being held by Palestinian militants.

They include five women, aged 18 to 19, who were serving in the military when they were abducted.

Damaged Al Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital and the area around it following a two-week operation

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip

As soldiers they were excluded from the prisoner exchange in November.

On Wednesday, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum published a three-minute video of the five women as they were kidnapped on October 7.

There are also still 64 men detained in the Gaza Strip, three of whom are in their 70s and two in their 80s.

Others are young men who were serving in the military at the time of the Oct. 7 attack.

A number of the male hostages were taken along with family members, including some with their children, who were subsequently released during the November ceasefire.

A total of 112 prisoners were released alive a week-long ceasefire in November in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

Israel also repatriated the bodies of 19 dead hostages, including three hostages killed by Israeli forces who mistook them for Hamas fighters.