The three hostages who were killed in the captivity of Hamas in Gaza and whose bodies were recovered in December, Ron Sherman, Nik Beizer and Elia Toledano - were killed by IDF bombing, Channel 12 News reported Monday evening.
According to the report, the IDF has known the details of their deaths since February but chose not to publicize them.
Sherman and Beizer were IDF soldiers. Toledano was kidnapped from the Nova music festival. Their bodies were found in a tunnel in the Gaza Strip in Jabaliya on December 14. According to the report, already in January their families were informed of the pathological findings that the soldiers were in the tunnel where senior Hamas commander Ahmed Ghandour was eliminated.
The IDF claimed that it is not possible to determine the cause of death, whether they were suffocated or poisoned and that it is not possible to confirm or deny the reports they were killed by IDF bombs.
Last month, IDF representatives came to the families of the three hostages and presented them with the findings. However, according to the report, the IDF knew this information many months ago - and decided not to publish it.
Senior IDF officials, including Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, decided not to publicize the information.