Israel army says bodies of 2 hostages recovered in Gaza operation
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A picture released by the Israeli army shows soldiers transporting the bodies of two Israeli hostages recovered in the Gaza Strip.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
JERUSALEM - The Israeli army said on Dec 12 that during an operation in Gaza, it recovered the bodies of two hostages taken by Hamas in its Oct 7 attack.
The families have been informed that the two bodies have been returned to Israel, added the army.
The army had previously confirmed that one of the hostages, soldier Ziv Dado, was killed on the day of the attack, but Israel considers those still held by Hamas to be hostages, regardless of whether they are dead or alive.
The other hostage, Ms Eden Zecharya, was taken by Hamas from the Supernova music festival near the Reim kibbutz.
Before the bodies of Mr Dado and Ms Zecharya were recovered, Israel said it believed 137 hostages were still in Hamas captivity.
A statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which has helped to coordinate relatives’ outreach efforts, said that Ms Zecharya was kidnapped while injured in the upper half of her body, and that her boyfriend was murdered during the attack.
The army said that during the operation to recover the bodies, two soldiers fell in battle and additional soldiers were injured.
Another hostage, Mr Sahar Baruch, was confirmed dead last week after a failed army rescue attempt that left two soldiers wounded.
Under a one-week truce deal that ended on Dec 1, 105 hostages were released from Gaza, among them 80 Israelis – mostly women and children – freed in exchange for 240 Palestinians jailed by Israel.
Efforts to revive the deal have stalled, and Hamas warned on Dec 10 that no more hostages would leave Gaza alive unless its demands for more prisoner releases were met.
Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, the other major Islamist movement holding hostages in the Gaza Strip and fighting Israeli forces, on Dec 12 said Israeli attempts to free captives would not work.
Mr Abu Hamza, spokesman for the group’s military wing, said: “The enemy’s prisoners and soldiers with us will... either be killed by Zionist strikes and stupid attempts to liberate them, or come back through indirect negotiations and exchange under a full ceasefire.
“Even if all the forces in the world come together – and they have come together – they will not free a single prisoner, God willing.” AFP
