Israel estimates 'majority of hostages' in Gaza are alive

Ahmad Ghrabali Agence France-Presse An Israeli looks at posters identifying compatriots kidnapped by Hamas, in Tel- Aviv, October 18. The majority of them are still alive, according to the Israeli army.

The Israeli army estimated in a statement on Friday that “the majority of hostages” kidnapped by Hamas during its October 7 attack were “alive”.

“Of the approximately 200 hostages currently in the Gaza Strip, more than 20 of them are minors, between 10 and 20 of them are over 60 years old, the majority of the hostages are alive,” he said. indicated the spokesperson who did not give further details on this point.

According to the same source, corpses were also taken to the Gaza Strip by Palestinian Islamists during their bloody attack launched at dawn on October 7 on Israeli soil on the edge of the Gaza Strip.

Furthermore, 100 to 200 Israelis are now considered “missing” since the attack, compared to the 3,000 counted on the first day of the war. “This number has decreased significantly” as the army has confirmed their locations.

“At present, the Israeli army is still conducting operations to find and locate the bodies near the Gaza Strip,” said the spokesperson.

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More than 1,400 people were killed on Israeli territory by the men of Hamas since October 7, the majority of civilians mowed down by bullets, burned alive or dead from mutilations on the first day of the attack by fighters of the Palestinian Islamist movement carried out from Gaza, according to the Israeli authorities.

< p>According to the Israeli army, around 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in the counter-offensive which allowed Israel to regain control of the attacked areas.

In the Gaza Strip, more than 3,700 Palestinians , mostly civilians, were killed in the incessant bombings carried out in retaliation by the Israeli army, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health in Gaza.