What we know about Gaza hostages after Israel confirms death following Hamas video
Israel has confirmed the first known death of a hostage held by Hamas on Tuesday after the militants released video of the 19-year-old soldier.
Israelâs military announced the death of Noa Marciano, a corporal in the Border Guards Corps, after Hamas published a video purporting to show her body on Monday night.
In the video, Marciano is first seen alive, identifying herself and saying she has been in Gaza for four days, suggesting that it may have been filmed on 11 October â four days after more than 200 hostages were taken during the deadly Hamas raids.
The video then shows horrifying footage of a woman of similar appearance lying still with several bloody injuries. A caption said Marciano was killed âin an air strike by the Zionist enemyâ last Thursday.
What is known about the death of the hostage?
Some Israeli MPs and the mother of a hostage have claimed Marciano was executed, but there has been no verification of these claims.
Hamas had warned that it would execute hostages if Israel did not stop bombing Gaza.
The group has previously said that several other hostages have been killed by Israeli strikes but has not provided any evidence, and the claims have not been confirmed.
A spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) was not able to immediately comment.
The army described the Hamas video as âpsychological terrorâ.
Marciano was serving as a lookout at the Nahal Oz kibbutz during the Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October, when about 1,200 people were killed.
Her whereabouts since then have been unknown, and similarly the locations of the other hostages taken by the proscribed terror group are not known.
What is known about the safety of the other hostages?
Hamas is believed to be holding more than 200 hostages captured on 7 October in the tunnels under Gaza. The militants have claimed that 60 hostages have been killed in Israeli air strikes, but this has not been confirmed.
Little is known about the captivesâ condition, with Hamas refusing to allow the Red Cross access to them.
The group has released occasional videos showing hostages in captivity. In one, three Israeli women were filmed reading a message demanding that Israelâs Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agree to a prisoner swap, a Hamas demand.
Four hostages have been released so far: Judith Raanan, 59, and her daughter, Natalie, 17, on 20 October, followed by Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, three days later.
The IDF said it also rescued a soldier, Private Ori Megidish, abducted by Hamas on 30 October.
Ms Lifschitz described her experience in the tunnels as âhellâ but said that some of her captors treated hostages humanely and gave them adequate food and medicine.
Shani Louk, a 22-year-old Israeli-German woman who was paraded semi-naked and apparently unconscious on a pick-up truck during the Hamas attack on a festival, was initially thought to have been among the hostages.
However, her family later confirmed that she had died, probably during the attack, after her body was discovered.
