TEL AVIV, December 2. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the death of four hostages captured by the radical Palestinian movement Hamas, the Al Jazeera TV channel quoted IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari as saying.

According to him, four hostages were killed in the Gaza Strip: Eliyahu Margalit, Mia Goren, Ronen Engel and Aryeh Zalmanovich. The spokesman said that the families of the dead Hamas prisoners had already been notified. He did not specify how or when the hostages died.

Earlier, Hagari said that the Palestinian radicals continue to hold 136 hostages, including 17 women and children who were "ruthlessly kidnapped from their homes." He said that the IDF "will continue to do everything in its power to rescue the kidnapped by any means necessary."

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 200 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also underway in the West Bank.