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Gaza War: Israel Confirms Deaths Of Four More Hostages

The three men, Amiram Cooper, Yoram Metzger and Haim Peri, were all age 80 or older.

AP

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military has confirmed the deaths of four more hostages held by Hamas -- including three older adults seen in a Hamas video begging for their release.

The three men, Amiram Cooper, Yoram Metzger and Haim Peri, were all age 80 or older. They appeared in a video in December released by Hamas under the title, “Don’t let us grow old here.”

The fourth hostage was identified as Nadav Popplewell.

Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the four men died together in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis when Israel was operating there. The cause of death was not immediately known.

“We are checking all of the options,” Hagari said. “There are a lot of questions.”

Israel carried out a major offensive in Khan Younis, a Hamas stronghold, early this year.

Hamas claimed in May that Popplewell had died after being wounded in an Israeli airstrike, but provided no evidence.

Cooper, Metzger and Peri were featured in a Hamas propaganda video in which Peri, clearly under duress, said in the video that all three men had chronic illnesses and accused Israel of abandoning them.

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