Israeli army says bodies of 3 hostages recovered in Gaza
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Of the 251 hostages seized during the assault, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
JERUSALEM - The Israeli military said on June 22 that it had recovered the bodies of three hostages in Gaza, more than 20 months after they were abducted by Hamas militants.
“In a special operation... the bodies of the hostages Ofra Keidar, Yonatan Samerano and Staff Sergeant Shay Levinson were recovered from the Gaza Strip yesterday,” the military said in a statement.
Mr Samerano’s father had announced earlier on June 22 that his son’s body, which was taken into Gaza after he was murdered in a kibbutz by the territory on Oct 7, 2023, had been recovered by the Israeli army.
He paid tribute to “the brave soldiers of the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) and the Shin Bet” security service in a message posted on Instagram.
Ms Keidar, a 71-year-old mother of three, was also killed in a kibbutz and had been abducted, while 19-year-old tank commander Levinson “engaged and fought terrorists on the morning of Oct 7 and fell in combat”, a statement from the military said.
The attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas
Of the 251 hostages seized during the assault, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed more than 55,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The UN considers these figures reliable. AFP
