On Saturday, May 11th, the Palestinian Islamic organization Hamas claimed that another Gaza hostage had died. Israel has not yet responded to this claim.
According to reports from Reuters and the Jerusalem Post, Hamas first released a video on Saturday without a specified date. In the video, 51-year-old Nadav Popplewell stood in front of a white wall with a bruise on his right eye, but there were no apparent injuries elsewhere on his body.
Hours later, in a second video, Hamas stated that Popplewell had been injured in an Israeli airstrike a month ago and had since passed away.
According to Hamas, Popplewell was a British citizen.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a major attack on the southern Israeli kibbutz of Nirim, and Popplewell was taken hostage at that time.
Hamas has a history of making similar announcements since the outbreak of the war with Israel, with a record of disseminating false information. Like their other statements, this latest announcement has yet to be confirmed by Israel.
Just last month, Hamas released a video of hostages, including Keith Siegel, who has dual US and Israeli citizenship, and Omri Miran, an Israeli citizen. They expressed love for their families and requested release.
Israel condemned Hamas’ release of the hostage video as a cruel psychological warfare tactic. Israel also denied some of the previous allegations made by Hamas, which claimed that Gaza hostages were killed by Israeli shelling.
Popplewell, who has diabetes, was kidnapped along with his mother last October. His brother was killed in a Hamas attack, while his mother was released during a brief ceasefire in November.
According to hostage support groups, of the 252 people kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 last year, 128 are still in Gaza. The Israeli Forensic Medicine Committee has confirmed at least 36 hostages have died.
Israel states that securing the release of hostages is one of its objectives in launching an offensive in Gaza, along with the aim of eliminating the Hamas militant organization.