The IDF announced on Monday that two additional hostages, Alex Dancyg and Yagev Buchshtav, held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, have been confirmed dead. The news comes after new intelligence information was obtained, revealing that the two men died several months ago while in Hamas captivity.
Dancyg, 75, a renowned Holocaust educator and activist, and Buchshtav, 35, a musician and soundman, were abducted by Hamas terrorists from their homes in Kibbutz Nir Oz and Kibbutz Nirim during the October 7 onslaught. The IDF has not disclosed the circumstances of their deaths, citing an ongoing investigation into the possibility that they were killed by Israeli fire.
Dancyg, a Polish-Israeli, was born in Warsaw in 1948 to Holocaust survivors. He spent his life educating about the Holocaust and teaching other educators how to teach about the Holocaust. He led a program for 120 Israeli and Polish schools to meet together during Israeli school trips to Poland. Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial mourned his loss, saying, “Today, we deeply grieve the loss of our cherished and esteemed colleague, Alex Dancyg… His essence embodied both in spirit and substance, his love for the land and thirst for knowledge.”
Buchshtav and his wife, Rimon, were hiding in their safe room when they were abducted. Rimon was released in a hostage deal with Hamas on November 28, but Yagev remained in captivity. The couple, known for creating a home full of music and rescuing abused animals, had met in high school and reconnected years later, marrying in 2021.
The deaths of Dancyg and Buchshtav bring the total number of confirmed hostage fatalities to 44, out of the 116 hostages still being held by Hamas since October 7, out of a total of 251 who were abducted that day.Hamas is also still holding the bodies of two soldiers since 2014 and two Israeli civilians who entered Gaza in 2014 and 2015.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
One Response
The math is brutal but true: two dead hostages means 100 fewer terrorists freed, which means dozens of Jews not murdered.
If Gilad Shalit died in captivity, 2000 Jews wouldn’t have to die.