Family blames Netanyahu for hostage Alex Dancyg’s death, vows to ‘settle the score’

The family of one of the two Gaza hostages declared dead today by Israel blames his death on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, calling the failure to return him alive “much, much greater than the failure of October 7” when he and 250 others were kidnapped and 1,200 were killed in the Hamas onslaught.

Alex Dancyg, 75, and Yagev Buchshtav, 35, have been confirmed by the IDF to have died several months ago while the IDF was operating in Khan Younis, where they are believed to have been held together by Hamas.

“This isn’t how it was supposed to end,” writes Yuval Dancyg, Alex’s son, on Instagram. “You were abducted alive and breathing from your bed on that cursed morning, and you should have returned home alive and in one piece. I’m sorry we didn’t succeed in this task.

“In the last few months I was exposed more and more to the number of people you inspired and to what an amazing legacy you left behind,” Yuval adds. “I promise to carry this legacy with me to every place and to tell your story.

“Now is the time for grieving and memorializing. The time to settle the score with those responsible for what happened will come,” he adds, possibly referring to Hamas, and potentially also to the Netanyahu government.

Another son of Alex, Mati Dancyg, is more explicit, saying that “Dad didn’t just die — he died for the sake of Netanyahu’s government of destruction” and calling on the public to protest the government.

The premier “is continuing to thwart and sabotage any chance for a deal” and is “choosing to save his rotten government rather than save the lives of Israeli citizens whose abduction he himself is responsible for,” he charges.

“The sacrificing of the hostages out of political motives is a much, much greater failure than the failure of October 7. This isn’t just criminal negligence, it is full-on treason,” Mati adds, calling for no IDF soldier to be endangered by being sent on a military mission to retrieve Alex’s body.