Israel declares two more Gaza hostages dead

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel declared dead on Monday two more of its hostages being held in Gaza, as talks to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the release of some 120 captives there were set to resume later this week.

The Israeli military said it was still investigating the deaths in captivity of the two hostages, Yagev Buchshtab, a 35-year-old sound technician and Alex Dancyg, 76, a historian, who were abducted from their homes in kibbutzim near the border with Gaza during Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.

An Israeli negotiation team was due on Thursday to set off to mediated Gaza ceasefire talks that would include the issue of hostages being released in return for Palestinian prisoners.

"Yagev and Alex were taken alive and should have returned alive to their families and to their country," the Hostage Families Forum said in a statement. "Their death in captivity is a tragic reflection of the consequences of foot-dragging in negotiations."

Dancyg also had Polish citizenship, and Poland's foreign ministry said it was saddened by his death.

"Poland will continue to demand the unconditional release of all the abductees from Gaza," the ministry said.

Israeli authorities have so far pronounced dead in absentia around a third of the hostages still held in Gaza.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell and Ari Rabinovitch, additional reporting by Alan Charlish in WarsawEditing by Gareth Jones and Christina Fincher)