Early on August 20th IDF forces recovered the bodies of six of the Israeli hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th 2023 from a tunnel in Khan Younis.
“The deceased hostages brought back to Israel on Tuesday morning were Alex Dancyg, 75, Yagev Buchshtav, 35, Chaim Peri, 79, Yoram Metzger, 80, Nadav Popplewell, 51, and Avraham Munder, 78. All but Munder had previously been confirmed dead by the IDF. Munder was hitherto presumed alive, although the IDF did have information raising concern for his wellbeing. […]
Hamas had attempted to hide the remains of the hostages, placing them in an underground passage that was hidden behind a false wall inside the tunnel system. Troops searching the tunnel found a loose panel in the wall, which led them to the hidden passage.”
Later the same day, the BBC News website published a report written by London-based Tom Bennett and headlined “Six hostages’ bodies retrieved from Gaza tunnels, says IDF” which tells readers that: [emphasis added]
“In June, Israel confirmed the deaths of Mr Popplewell, 51, Mr Peri, 79, and Mr Metzger, 80. The IDF stated the three men had died during an Israeli operation in Khan Younis.
In July, the IDF also confirmed the deaths of Mr Buchshtab, 35, and Mr Dancyg, 76, stating an investigation was being carried out into how they died. Israeli media, citing military sources, reported at the time there was a “high probability” that at least one of the men was killed by Israeli fire.”
The first of those linked BBC reports, dating from June 3rd, tells readers that:
“Israel’s military says it has established the deaths of four more people abducted by Hamas on 7 October.
It says the four were killed while together during an Israeli operation in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, adding that their bodies were still being held by the militants.
The men were named as British-Israeli Nadav Popplewell, 51, Chaim Peri, 79, Yoram Metzger, 80, and Amiram Cooper, 85.
IDF spokesman Rear Adm Daniel Hagari said intelligence gathered in recent weeks had led to the assessment.
“We assess that the four of them were killed while together in the area of Khan Younis during our operation there against Hamas,” he said, without giving further details.”
In fact, as reported by the Times of Israel at the time, the IDF Spokesman told a press briefing that:
‘“We estimate that the four were killed together, in the Khan Younis area, several months ago, while being held by Hamas terrorists and while IDF forces were operating in Khan Younis,” he said.
“I know that difficult questions will arise regarding the circumstances of the deaths,” Hagari added, appearing to reference the possibility that the four had been mistakenly killed by IDF troops or Israeli airstrikes. “We are examining the circumstances of these deaths in depth, looking into all possibilities, and we will present the findings as soon as possible, first to the families and then to the public. We will present [the findings] transparently, as we have done so far.”’
The second link provided by Bennett – dating from July 22nd – is the source of his “high probability” claim:
“In a separate development on Monday, the IDF confirmed the deaths in captivity of two more Israeli hostages, based on intelligence information.
A statement said an investigation was being carried out into the circumstances of the deaths of Yagev Buchshtab, 35, and Alex Dancyg, 76, who also had Polish citizenship. Israeli media reports cited military sources as saying there was a “high probability” that at least one of the men was killed by Israeli fire.”
Neither Bennett nor the writers of the linked article, David Gritten and Rushdi Abualouf, bothered to inform BBC audiences from which “Israeli media” outlet that quote was taken but the Times of Israel’s report from the same day stated that:
“The military did not detail the circumstances of their deaths, citing an ongoing probe. The possibility that they were killed by Israeli fire is being investigated.”
On August 21st the BBC News website published another report pertaining to the same story. Titled “Netanyahu putting politics before Gaza deal, dead hostage’s daughter says” and written by David Gritten, that report also links to the BBC’s June 3rd report.
On August 22nd the Israeli media reported the preliminary results of autopsies conducted on the recovered bodies of the six hostages.
“The bodies of the six hostages recovered by the IDF from southern Gaza’s Khan Younis this week all have signs of gunshot wounds, according to initial autopsy findings released Thursday. […]
According to the institute’s report, the bodies of the six hostages all have signs of gunfire, likely indicating they were killed by their captors.
Channel 12 reported that the military believes that they were executed by their captors during an IDF operation near where they were being held, with their guards possibly believing a rescue operation was underway.
The findings are initial, and the IDF and health officials have not yet determined the exact causes of deaths.”
Given that multiple BBC reports have suggested to audiences that at least some of the six hostages – including a British citizen – whose bodies were recovered on August 20th were killed “during an Israeli operation” or “by Israeli fire”, one might have thought that the BBC News website would have updated the articles published on August 20th and 21st to include those preliminary findings of the autopsies.
That, however, has not been the case to date.
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