A CNN investigation traced most Israeli hostage deaths in Gaza back to Israel's own military actions — damning for Netanyahu's government, and vindicating families who say their relatives were sacrificed to the war.

• Of 40 hostages who died, 24 deaths were tied to Israeli strikes, ground operations, or raids that triggered captors to kill their prisoners.
• Hostage families now blame their own government, saying getting people home was never the real war aim.
• Bringing hostages back was not in the original cabinet war goals — it was added only a week after October 7th, once the scale of the abductions became clear.
• Only eight hostages were ever rescued in military operations, while negotiations that could have freed more were repeatedly turned down.
• Israel's own defense minister at the time admitted the Hannibal directive — which calls for killing captured citizens rather than letting them be taken — was used in places on October 7th.

Outlook: The reporting will deepen pressure on Netanyahu from hostage families at home, even as most American TV coverage keeps avoiding the Hannibal directive admission.