Israel Defence Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Thursday that the families of 203 hostages have been informed that their loved ones are being held in the Gaza Strip. The IDF also announced that 306 soldiers have been killed since the start of the war on October 7.
Hagari, however, said the number is not final, as the IDF was constantly investigating new information on Israelis who have been missing since the October 7 onslaught, The Times of Israel reported.
He added that in some of the cases, the families were notified that the military suspects with high confidence that they were being held by Hamas. But in other cases, he said, the military has moderate-to-low confidence that they are hostages.
The war after Hamas militants stormed into Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy the militant group has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said on Wednesday that 3,478 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,000 injured in the past 11 days.
More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, the Israeli military spokesperson said.
{{/usCountry}}More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, the Israeli military spokesperson said.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, residents and doctors in this southern Gaza town said an airstrike slammed into a home, killing seven small children, news agency AP reported.
The news spread quickly on social media, as grisly images of dead and bloodied toddlers lined up side by side on a hospital stretcher stirred outrage in Gaza and the West Bank.
Bandaged and caked in dust, the bodies were brought to the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Younis along with three other dead members of the Bakri family. Photographers swarmed the operation room as women covered their eyes and doctors wept.
“This is a massacre,” hospital director Dr. Yousef Al-Akkad said, his voice choking with emotion. “Let the world see, these are just children.”
Local medics also confirmed that the children were killed in a strike and said the Bakri family was just one of many such cases Wednesday.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.