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Pressure intensifies on Israel for a truce after confirmation 43 of 124 hostages are dead

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Pressure intensifies on Israel for a truce after confirmation 43 of 124 hostages are dead

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The pressure was intensifying Tuesday for Israel to make a cease-fire deal and gain freedom for scores of hostages after the government confirmed the deaths of four more captives, fueling more protests and angst among family members of those still held in Gaza.

The government says more than a third of hostages − 43 of the 124 − are now confirmed dead. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition partners Shas and United Torah Judaism said on Tuesday they would support a hostage deal even if it involves a major change in war strategy. At least two farther-right coalition partners, however, have warned they could dissolve the coaltion if a deal is reached that does not include destruction of Hamas.

The four men most recently confirmed dead were among more than 250 people seized during the Hamas-led attack on Israeli border communities that killed almost 1,200. Military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said new intelligence led to the latest confirmations, saying they died together in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis months ago while Israel was conduction military operations there. It was not yet clear whether they were executed or died in the assault.

The International Red Cross warned Tuesday that time was of the essence.

“With every day that passes, more and more hostages die in captivity,” the agency said on social media. “This loss of human life is not inevitable. All hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally.”

Netanyahu doubles down: IDF tells 4 hostage families loved ones are dead

Developments:

∎ Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri blasted Washington and the West for pressuring the militant group to accept an Israeli proposal unveiled by President Joe Biden last week “as if it is Hamas who is hampering the deal.” Abu Zuhri told Hamas media that Israel is not serious about reaching a deal and is using the U.S. as “cover.”

∎ Five Americans hostages are still believed to be alive; three are confirmed dead. National security adviser Jake Sullivan was set to meet Tuesday morning with families of the Americans, NBC reported.

∎ A few arrests were made and hundreds of anti-government protesters were dispersed early Tuesday after blocking a highway and lighting a bonfire outside Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv. The protesters were demanding a deal for the release of remaining hostages.

Iranian government media reported that a Revolutionary Guard adviser stationed in Syria, Gen. Saeed Abyar, was killed in an Israeli airstrike near the city of Aleppo. Several other people also were killed in the attack Monday, Syria’s defense ministry said. The attack comes two months after two senior Revolutionary Guard generals and five other officers were killed and a building was destroyed in an airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus. That strike led to retaliatory strikes by both sides that put the two nations on the brink of war.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a USA TODAY request for confirmation or comment on the report.

Israeli drones struck Hamas militants overnight in a compound with a U.N. school in the Al Buriz area of Central Gaza, the Israeli military said in a social media post. The site included headquarter buildings, weapon depots, rocket launch positions, observation posts and other infrastructure, the military said.

Israel has drawn global outrage for multiple strikes on U.N. buildings and equipment the military said was being used by the militants, including an attack two months ago that inadvertently killed seven World Food Kitchen aid workers. After Tuesday’s strike, the military published photos of weapons it said were seized at the site.

“The attack was carefully planned and carried out using precise weaponry and avoiding as much as possible harm to those not involved,” the military statement said.

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