American officials told the Wall Street Journal they feared that many of the Israeli hostages still held captive by Hamas in Gaza were dead. The report comes amid talks on a truce agreement, with some Hamas sources indicating in recent days that they are unable to trace the 40 live hostages Israel is seeking in the negotiations. There are believed to be 129 hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 remaining in Gaza.
The IDF confirmed the deaths of 34 of these but, writes the WSJ, "Israeli and American officials privately estimate that the number of deaths could be much higher"