Israel mourns four dead hostages

Israel is mourning four captives reported dead in Gaza by the army, amid growing doubts and international pressure over a plan for a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

The moments before and after an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential building in the city of Bureij, in the central Gaza Strip. Pictures: AFP 

Israel is mourning four captives reported dead in Gaza by the army, amid growing doubts and international pressure over a plan for a ceasefire and hostage release deal outlined by US President Joe Biden.

In the besieged Palestinian territory, Israeli strikes continued into Tuesday, particularly in Bureij in central Gaza where local hospital sources reported several deaths.

In northern Israel, firefighters and troops were battling forest blazes after rocket fire from neighbouring Lebanon, with the border area the scene of near-daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and the Hezbollah militant group, an ally of Hamas, since the start of the war in Gaza eight months ago.

Israel’s military overnight on Monday announced the deaths in Gaza of four hostages seized during the October 7 Hamas massacre, naming them as Chaim Perry, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Cooper and Nadav Popplewell.

Their bodies were still in the hands of Hamas, it said.

Cooper, 84, Metzger, 80, and Perry, 80, were abducted from the Nir Oz kibbutz while Israeli-British citizen Popplewell, 51, was kidnapped from the Nirim kibbutz.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under intense domestic pressure from multiple sides to negotiate an end to war.

Families of hostages held in the Gaza Strip protest at the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on Monday. Picture: Getty Images

Relatives and supporters of hostages have staged mass protests demanding a truce deal, but his far-right coalition allies are threatening to bring down the government if he agrees to that.

Mr Biden on Friday presented what he labelled an Israeli three-phase plan that would end the bloody conflict, free all hostages and lead to reconstruction of the devastated Palestinian territory without Hamas in power.

However, Mr Netanyahu’s office stressed that the war would continue until all of Israel’s “goals are achieved”, including the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities.

The G7 group of countries said in a statement its leaders “fully endorse” the deal pushed by Mr Biden, and called on Hamas to accept it.

Hamas said on Friday it viewed Mr Biden’s outline “positively”, but has since made no ­official comment on stalled ­negotiations.

UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland on Tuesday urged all parties to reach an agreement after he visited Gaza and “witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of the hostilities. The scenes of destruction and suffering … are heart-wrenching”.

“There is a serious proposal on the table – outlined by President Biden – and I urge all parties to reach an agreement immediately to achieve a ceasefire and return the hostages,” he posted on X.

“There is no alternative – and any delay, every day simply costs more lives.”

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer earlier quoted Mr Netanyahu as saying Mr Biden’s outline was only ­“partial”, and that under the plan fighting would stop temporarily only “for the purpose of returning the hostages”.

The fighting showed no sign of easing, with the war that has devastated the coastal territory of 2.4 million people.

On Monday, Israel’s military said its forces had struck “over 50 targets” over the past day.

Gaza hospitals reported at least 19 deaths in overnight strikes.

AFP