The military also retrieved the remains of an unidentified captive, Netanyahu’s office says
The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that it has recovered the body of Ilan Weiss, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
“The body of Ilan Weiss, who was held hostage for 693 days in Gaza, has been recovered in a joint IDF and [Israel Security Agency] military operation,” the IDF wrote in a statement on X. “Ilan was from kibbutz Be’eri and left his home on the morning of October 7 to join the kibbutz emergency response team.”
“He was murdered and kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7 Massacre,” the statement goes on. “His wife Shiri, 54, and daughter Noga, 19, were taken hostage into Gaza and released during the ceasefire deal in November 2023. May his memory be a blessing.”
Israel in recent days has launched an offensive to take control of Gaza City and dismantle Hamas’s last stronghold. President Donald Trump has signaled his backing for the offensive, saying that Hamas “can’t stay” in Gaza and that “we will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!!” Hamas, meanwhile, is blocking civilians from evacuating in an effort to “exploit” the Israeli military’s efforts to avoid civilian casualties.
The IDF during the Friday operation also recovered the remains of a second victim whose identity is still being determined, according to a statement by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
Israeli intelligence estimates that around 20 hostages are still alive in Gaza, alongside the bodies of up to 28 others killed in captivity.
The Israeli military located the two bodies based partly on intelligence from the Israel Security Agency’s interrogations of terrorists captured in Gaza, the X account Israel War Room wrote based on a report by Israel’s Channel 12.
Netanyahu on Friday reiterated that “the campaign to return the hostages is ongoing.”
“We will neither rest nor be silent until we bring all of our hostages back home, the living and the deceased,” the prime minister wrote on X.
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