‘Complex rescue mission’: IDF recovers bodies of two October 7 victims from Gaza; Netanyahu vows to return all hostages
Israeli security forces have recovered the remains of two people killed in the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed. As per The New York Times, the bodies were identified as 56-year-old Ilan Weiss and 28-year-old Idan Shtivi.The Israeli military and domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet said the operation was a “complex rescue mission,” without disclosing when or where it took place. Weiss, a civilian emergency team leader, was killed in his home community of Be’eri during the attack in which militants raided southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and abducting around 250, according to Israeli officials. His wife, Shiri, and teenage daughter, Noga, were taken hostage but later freed during a ceasefire in November 2023, the NYT reported.Shtivi was killed near the Nova music festival, where 360 people lost their lives and several others were abducted. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said he had gone to the festival grounds to photograph friends. According to The Sun US, Shtivi was abducted from the Tel Gama area, “brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists after acting to rescue and evacuate others” from the site. His body was taken to Gaza and held for 693 days before being returned.Netanyahu vowed Israel would not stop its efforts to bring back both living hostages and the dead. “We will not rest or be silent until we return all of our hostages home, both the living and the dead,” he said Friday, as quoted by The Sun US.The recovery of the two bodies comes as Israel intensifies its Gaza offensive. According to the NYT, the Israeli security cabinet has approved a plan to expand operations into Gaza City, where several hundred thousand Palestinians remain. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz’s office said, “We will not rest until everyone returns home — this is the objective of the upcoming maneuver.”Palestinian health officials say more than 63,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of Israel’s military campaign. On Saturday, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 17 people in Gaza City, while targeting what officials described as a “key” Hamas figure.The war, which began after Hamas’ October 7 assault, has left Israel still holding that around 20 hostages are alive in Gaza, with the bodies of roughly 30 more captives also believed to remain there.
