Historian Alex Dancyg among hostages confirmed dead by Israeli army
Imprisoned by Hamas, Alex Dancyg, a historian, has died, the Israeli army reported. The army confirmed on Monday the death of two hostages after obtaining new intelligence information.
On Monday, the Israeli army confirmed the deaths of two hostages imprisoned by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They are Alex Dancyg and Yagev Buchstaw. According to the Israeli military, they were most likely held together near the city of Khan Yunis and died there a few months ago.
Their deaths were confirmed after obtaining new intelligence information, the army said, without providing further details.
As early as March 10, Hamas militants and media in Israel reported Dancyg's death. He was said to have died during an Israeli bombing of the Palestinian enclave, and his body was examined and verified. Along with him, six other people were reportedly killed— the identities of three of them were provided on March 1.
Dancyg conveyed information from captivity
The last information about the historian appeared in the media in November 2023. The 7Israel portal reported that the man had sent a message to his family through a released hostage.
His son-in-law, Yaron Maor, said that Dancyg received medications that he needed to take regularly since he underwent bypass surgery. The released hostage testified that the historian gave lectures to a few other imprisoned Israelis from the same kibbutz.
Alex Dancyg was a Polish and Israeli citizen
Born in Warsaw in 1948, Alex Dancyg was a Polish and Israeli citizen. A historian by training, he engaged in Polish-Jewish dialogue for decades, organizing, among other things, visits of Israeli groups to Poland and Polish groups to Israel. He worked at the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem.
He lived in the Nir Oz kibbutz right at the border with the Gaza Strip and was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from there on October 7, 2023.
