The lifeless body of a man taken hostage during the terrorist attacks of October 7 has been recovered, the Israeli army announced on Saturday April 6. He was allegedly killed during his captivity, Israel claims.
The body of a man who had until then been a hostage of Hamas since the attacks of October 7 has been recovered, the Israeli army announced on Saturday April 6. Nearly six months after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, the body of Elad Katzir, aged 47 at the time of his kidnapping, was recovered during a commando operation, reports BFMTV. “The body was located thanks to information from the intelligence services of Aman and the Shin Bet,” explained the Israeli army, which specified that the hostage had been “killed in captivity by the terrorist organization Islamic Jihad” .
During the terrorist attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023, 250 people were kidnapped before being taken to the Gaza Strip. Also taken hostage, Elad Katzir’s mother, named Hanna, was released on November 24 during the humanitarian truce between the two belligerents. His father, however, was killed in the attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz where he lived. Repatriated to Israel, the body of the deceased hostage has been formally identified, the army said in a statement, presenting its “deepest condolences to the family”.
Warned of the bad news, Elad Katzie’s sister posted a message on her social networks, while accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not having done enough to save her brother. “[He] could have been saved if an agreement had been reached in time. Our leadership is cowardly and politically motivated and that is why (his release) did not take place,” she explained . Currently, around 130 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip. Among them, 34 are believed to have died, according to the army.
