The Israeli armed forces announced this on Friday. It was previously assumed that the terrorists had kidnapped the man as a hostage in the Gaza Strip on October 7th. The death of another hostage was announced on Friday night. According to the government, his body is still in the Gaza Strip.
The army has notified the relatives of the victim found in Israel. The remains were identified through detailed forensic examinations. The Hostages’ Forum said on Friday that the man was working as a security guard for the Nova music festival, which was held near the Gaza border. In this role, he saved numerous festival guests from the terrorists of Hamas and other extremist Palestinian groups before he was murdered himself.
In the case of the dead hostage in the Gaza Strip, it was unclear where exactly Israel learned regarding his death. His wife was reportedly murdered during the October 7 massacre and two of his three children were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip. His 13-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son were released in November as part of an agreement between the Israeli government and Hamas.
Israeli media reported, citing Kibbutz Be’eri, where the family lived, that the 49-year-old was killed on October 7th. The Hostage Relatives Forum also said that Hamas terrorists had brought his body to the Gaza Strip that day.
Terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups kidnapped more than 250 people into the Gaza Strip in the attack.
As part of an agreement, Hamas released 105 hostages during a week-long ceasefire at the end of November last year. In return, Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners from its prisons.
Several weeks ago, Israel assumed that almost 100 of the approximately 130 remaining hostages were still alive. But there are now fears that significantly more of them might already be dead.
An Austrian is also said to still be in the hands of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Specifically, according to previous information, it is the Israeli-Austrian dual citizen Tal Shoham. He was kidnapped with his wife and several children. Unlike him, the other family members, some of whom also have German citizenship, were released.
