Hamas Claims British-Israeli Hostage Has Been Killed, Foreign Office Launches Investigation
The terrorist group made an unconfirmed claim that Nadav Popplewell, 51, who was abducted during its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, has passed away.
The Foreign Office is currently investigating the assertions made by the Hamas terrorist group regarding the death of a British-Israeli hostage in Gaza.
Hamas released a video on Saturday claiming that Nadav Popplewell, one of the hostages taken during their attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, had succumbed to injuries sustained in an Israeli airstrike a month prior.
Hamas did not provide any proof to support their claim, and the Israeli military has not responded.
In a statement to The Epoch Times, a spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office mentioned that the department is in the process of verifying the claim.
“We are urgently seeking more information following the release of this video. Our thoughts are with his family during this extremely distressing time,” the statement noted.
“The UK government has been collaborating with partners in the region to secure the release of hostages, including British citizens. We will continue our efforts to ensure the safe return of hostages,” the spokesperson added.
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Earlier on Saturday, Hamas released undated footage of Mr. Popplewell, 51, with a black eye confirming his name.
Hours later, it released a second video claiming he had died of wounds sustained in a missile strike a month ago.
Israel has previously denied accusations by Hamas that hostages were killed by Israeli fire.
Mr. Popplewell was captured with his mother from her home in Kibbutz Nirim, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
His brother was killed during the attack. His mother was released during a temporary ceasefire in November 2023.
The campaign group described him as “generous and kind” and an avid reader of science fiction novels.
Appearing on the BBC’s “Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg” programme, Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron said he had watched the video on X “like everyone else” and couldn’t provide an update.
“And I watched that video and you just think ‘what callous people they are to do that, to play with the family’s emotions in that way,’” he said.
“I met Nadav’s family, his sister, and I know the heartbreak they’ve been going through for over 200 days, and when you see what Hamas are prepared to do, you just realise the terrible, dreadful, inhuman people, frankly, that we are dealing with.”
The Israel–Hamas war was triggered by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, when it led attacks on southern Israel and killed around 1,200 people.
According to Israeli tallies, 252 people were abducted on Oct. 7, and 128 remain in Gaza. At least 36 of them have been declared dead by an Israeli forensic committee.
One hostage, Hanna Katzir, was released in November 2023 as part of a prisoner exchange deal, days after media outlets reported the claim of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group that the elderly woman had died in captivity because of what it claimed to be Israel’s delay in the negotiation process.
The claim of Mr. Popplewell’s death was made one day after Hamas blamed Israel for the breaking down of a deal on Thursday.
According to Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry, more than 34,900 people have died during Israel’s offensive in Gaza. This number includes both combatants and civilians.
Israel says securing the release of the hostages is the aim of its offensive in Gaza, along with eliminating Hamas, which has ruled the enclave since 2007.
Meanwhile, Lord Cameron said banning arms export to Israel would strengthen Hamas and make a hostage deal less likely.
Israel ordered Palestinians in more areas in Rafah to evacuate on Saturday in an indication it was pressing ahead with its plans for a ground attack, despite U.S. President Joe Biden’s threat to withhold the supply of some weapons if it did so.
Lord Cameron told the BBC’s “Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg” programme that he didn’t support an operation in Rafah in the absence of a plan to protect the civilians sheltering in the city, but the UK is in a “completely different position” to the United States in terms of providing arms to Israel, he said, noting that the less than 1 percent of Israel’s weapons that came from Britain were already controlled by a strict licensing system.
“There was a brutal attack by Iran on Israel, including 140 cruise missiles. It was not, sort of, tiny drones, huge cruise missiles blasting into Israel, and I think it would have sent entirely the wrong message. It would have been a very unwise move,” he said.
“As we stand here today, I think there is a better answer which is Hamas must take the hostage deal, you get the pause in the fighting, you build a ceasefire out of that. But I think actually to simply announce today, we’re going to change our whole approach to arms exports rather than go through our careful process, it would strengthen Hamas, it would make a hostage deal less likely. I don’t think it would be the right approach.”
Labour’s shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth told Sky News’s “Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips” programme the UK “should be pausing arms sales in order to stop any arms that would be used in that Rafah offensive,” which he said, “would be completely catastrophic.”
PA and Reuters contributed to this report.
