Israeli troopers have recovered the physique of one of many hostages kidnapped in the course of the Hamas-led assault on Israel final month from a constructing subsequent to the Al-Shifa Hospital complicated in Gaza Metropolis, the Israeli navy mentioned on Thursday night time.
The physique of Yehudit Weiss, 65, a resident of Be’eri, a kibbutz close to the border with Gaza, was discovered by troops who in latest days have taken management of a lot of the hospital, the biggest within the Gaza Strip, and have been looking out inside and beneath it. Israeli officers say the hospital complicated hosts main Hamas services, some in underground bunkers, a declare rejected by Hamas and hospital officers.
The navy, in a press release saying the restoration of her physique, didn’t say how Ms. Weiss had died. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli navy spokesman, instructed reporters that troopers discovered weapons belonging to her captors close to her stays.
“Yehudit was killed by terrorists in the Gaza Strip, and we didn’t manage to reach her in time,” he mentioned.
Israeli authorities mentioned Hamas and different Palestinian teams took roughly 240 folks hostage in the course of the shock assault on Oct. 7 that left round 1,200 lifeless in Israel. The continued hostage disaster — which includes dozens of twin nationals — has shocked the nation and complex Israel’s hopes of toppling Hamas in Gaza.
Hamas has launched 4 Israeli hostages to date, and Israeli troops efficiently rescued a 19-year-old Israeli soldier final month. Negotiations have reportedly superior this week for the discharge of fifty hostages, in alternate for the discharge of Palestinians held in Israeli jails and a cessation of hostilities for a number of days.
Israeli troops transferred Ms. Weiss’s physique to Israel for forensic testing by well being officers, who confirmed her id, the Israeli navy mentioned. Her husband, Shmulik Weiss, was killed within the Oct. 7 assault, Admiral Hagari mentioned.
Their neighborhood, Be’eri, a close-knit kibbutz of roughly 1,000 residents, was devastated by the Hamas assault. A minimum of 86 residents have been killed within the assault, in keeping with the kibbutz administration, whereas roughly 25 are lacking, with lots of these believed to have been kidnapped in Gaza.
In a video assertion after her kidnapping, Ms. Weiss’s household mentioned that she and Mr. Weiss ceased responding to messages after round 10:15 a.m. on Oct. 7. Each of their telephones have been later traced to Gaza, mentioned their son Ohad.
“We had so much hope that Mom would come back,” one other of their sons, Omer, instructed reporters on Thursday night time, after studying of his mom’s demise. “We wished for it and we hoped. Sadly, it was too late for us — but perhaps for the rest of the families, it’s not.”
