Photographs taken today show smoke and flames engulfing buildings in the Al Bureij Camp in Deir al-Balah — a city in the central Gaza strip.
Enormous explosions blasted the camp’s infrastructure, as Palestinians watched on in horror as the destruction unfolded.
Some were seen running for cover after an Israeli missile hit a residential building in the camp, while thick black smoke and dust covered the area following the strike.
It comes after Israel’s military confirmed the deaths of four more hostages held in Gaza since the October 7 attack on a music festival.
Nadav Popplewell, 51, Yoram Metzger, 80, Amiram Cooper, 84, and Chaim Peri, 79, all died several months ago while being held by Hamas in the Khan Younis area, The Times of Israel reported today.
It is understood that Israeli representatives have informed their families that they are no longer alive and that their bodies are currently being held by Hamas.
Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a separate video address: ‘We assess that the four of them were killed while together in the area of Khan Yunis during our operation there against Hamas.’
Hamas claimed in May that Popplewell died as a result of an airstrike but has yet to provide evidence of this, PBC reported.
Months earlier, the terrorist organization Al-Qassam Brigades claimed that Peri, Cooper and Metzger were among seven hostages killed in an Israeli airstrike, NBC reported.
Amiram Cooper has a son named Rotem who lives in San Diego, and as the attacks in Israel were unfolding, Rotem found out that his father and mother Nurit, 79, were abducted by Hamas.
Amiram and Nurit had called Nir Oz — a kibbutz about a mile outside Gaza — their home for seven decades, ABC San Diego reported last October.
Rotem added that his parents told him they locked themselves in a bomb shelter at their home.
Leave a Reply