Israel’s army mentioned on Saturday that it had recovered the physique of a person who was taken hostage from one of many communities hardest hit in the course of the Hamas-led Oct. 7 assault, virtually six months to the day after his abduction.
The person, Elad Katzir, 47, was killed in mid-January whereas being held in Gaza, an Israeli army official mentioned in a information briefing on Saturday. The circumstances of his dying couldn’t be confirmed. The official spoke on the situation of anonymity to debate the army operation.
He had lived in Nir Oz, a kibbutz close to the border with the Gaza Strip. Over 1 / 4 of its greater than 400 residents have been both killed or kidnapped within the assault — together with Mr. Katzir’s father, Avraham, who was killed, and mom, Hanna, who was additionally taken hostage, in line with the Israeli army.
Hanna Katzir was launched in November as a part of a short cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas wherein greater than 100 hostages have been returned. The return of Ms. Katzir, 76, shocked a few of her members of the family, as a result of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a militant group backed by Iran, had earlier claimed that she was useless.
The households of the remaining 133 hostages held in Gaza have expressed mounting anger and despair, saying that the Israeli authorities will not be doing sufficient to succeed in a deal for his or her launch. On Saturday, Mr. Katzir’s sister, Carmit, denounced the Israeli authorities for not reaching an settlement in time to safe her brother’s launch.
“He might have been saved if there had been a deal in time,” she wrote of her brother on Fb. “However our management are cowards, motivated by political issues, and thus it didn’t occur.”
About 100 hostages are nonetheless being held by Palestinian militants within the enclave, in line with the Israeli authorities; over 30 others at the moment are presumed useless.
The Israeli army mentioned that Mr. Katzir’s physique had been recovered by troops in Khan Younis, a metropolis within the southern a part of Gaza the place the Israeli military has been working since December. Round 8 p.m. on Friday night time, Israeli forces arrived in southern Khan Younis, remoted the realm and excavated his physique from the place he was buried underground, the army official mentioned.
Forensic pathologists in Israel confirmed his identification, and officers then knowledgeable his household, the army mentioned. The Israeli army’s assertion that he had been killed by his captors, Islamic Jihad, couldn’t be verified.
Islamic Jihad had launched at the very least two movies of Mr. Katzir, a farmer who was born in Nir Oz. He was final seen in a video launched in early January, wherein he mentioned he had been held for greater than 90 days and described listening to on the radio of the dying of a detailed good friend from Nir Oz.
Over the previous a number of weeks, Israel and Hamas have resumed oblique negotiations over a doable cease-fire and the discharge of at the very least some hostages. Hamas mentioned in a press release on Telegram on Saturday {that a} delegation of its management would journey to Cairo on Sunday for additional negotiations.
On Friday, President Biden despatched messages to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar — who act as intermediaries between Hamas and Israel — urging them to extend stress on Hamas to make a deal. He has pressed Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to do the identical.
Israeli leaders have insisted that continued “army stress” on Hamas will power the group to come back to the desk. The households of lots of the hostages, fearing that their family members might be killed by their captors or by errant Israeli hearth, have demanded extra speedy motion.
“Your story shouldn’t have ended like this,” Carmit Katzir wrote of her brother on Fb on Saturday. “I’m sorry we couldn’t prevent,” she wrote, including, “I really like you endlessly.”