Israeli historian Alex Dancyg confirmed dead after Hamas captivity

Alex Dancyg, a historian and advocate of Polish-Jewish dialogue who Hamas imprisoned, has died, the Israeli military reported. The army confirmed the death of two hostages on Monday "after obtaining new intelligence information."

On Monday, the Israeli army confirmed the deaths of two hostages imprisoned by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. These were 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 reported without providing further details.

As early as March 10, Hamas militants and Israeli media 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 said to have lost their lives. The identities of three of them were provided on March 1.

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 at the time that Dancyg was receiving the medication he needed to take regularly since he underwent bypass surgery. The released hostage testified that the historian was giving lectures to several other imprisoned Israelis from the same kibbutz.

Born in Warsaw in 1948, Alex Dancyg was a Polish and Israeli citizen. A historian by education, he had been involved 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 next to the Gaza Strip and was abducted from there by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.