The Israeli military on Sunday. said it has confirmed 126 people held as hostages by Hamas since the Palestinian militant group staged their deadly attack eight days earlier.
Authorities had initially estimated about 150 Israeli and foreign captives after Hamas launched its October 7 attack that killed at least 1,300 in Israel.
Heavy Israeli bombardment since has killed over 2,300 in the Palestinian enclave and tens of thousands of troops have massed along Gaza’s border in readiness for an invasion.
Military spokesman Richard Hecht also said that 286 Israeli soldiers had now been killed in military operations launched in response to the unprecedented Hamas attacks.
Israeli officials say the number of known hostages had been revised down as bodies from the Hamas attack sites in southern Israel have been found and identified.
Hecht told a briefing that 126 hostages had been “confirmed”.
