Danny Elgarat tells Knesset House Committee he has reason to believe hostage brother Itzik Elgarat is dead

Danny Elgarat tells the Knesset House Committee that he believes his brother Itzik Elgarat, who is held hostage in Gaza and is slated for release in the first phase of the ceasefire deal, is no longer alive.

“We know more today about the list that Hamas passed on,” Elgarat says. “I won’t speak for others but we will probably not receive him [Itzik] alive.”

According to the list Hamas provided on Sunday night, eight of the 26 hostages still to be freed in the first phase of the deal are dead. Although the list did not provide information on each hostage individually, officials have said that the document matched Israel’s existing information.

Elgarat tells the committee he believes Itzik could have been saved if earlier attempts to negotiate a ceasefire-hostage deal had been successful, and asks: “Who will be held accountable for this decision that killed 40 hostages?”

At least 34 of the 87 hostages still in captivity have been confirmed dead by the IDF, and the bodies of 40 others have been recovered throughout the course of the war.