Israel recovers body of October 7 victim from Gaza, Netanyahu’s office says

Tel Aviv, Israel: Israeli security forces have recovered the body of Ilan Weiss, who was killed during the Hamas-led attack on the country on October 7, 2023, from the Gaza Strip, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday.

The remains of “another deceased hostage” were also recovered, the prime minister’s office added, but that person’s identity was not released.

Weiss was killed in his home village of Be’eri, in southern Israel, when hundreds of militants raided the community as part of a wider attack that killed roughly 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials. Some 250 more people were abducted and taken to Gaza as hostages.

The remains of Weiss and the unidentified person were recovered in a “complex rescue operation” carried out by forces from the Israeli military and Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence agency, the military said in a statement. Israeli officials did not specify where or when the operation took place.

Weiss, who led the village’s civilian emergency response team, disappeared after he had gone to the community armory when the attack began, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing many families of the hostages, said in a statement. His death on Oct. 7, 2023, was confirmed in absentia in January 2024, the Forum added.

Weiss’ wife, Shiri, and teenage daughter, Noga, were kidnapped in the attack. They were released during a brief ceasefire along with dozens of other Israeli hostages in November 2023.

The recovery of the bodies comes as Israeli leaders face mounting pressure at home and abroad to reach an agreement with Hamas that would secure the release of the remaining hostages and end the war in Gaza. Israeli officials believe that 20 hostages are still alive and Hamas is holding the bodies of about 30 more captives.

The Israeli security Cabinet, a group that includes senior ministers and is chaired by Netanyahu, recently decided to intensify military operations in Gaza, including taking over Gaza City, the enclave’s main urban center where thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge.

“We will not rest until everyone returns home — this is the objective of the upcoming maneuver,” the office of Israel Katz, the country’s defense minister, said in a statement Friday referring to the plan to widen the military offensive.

But Israel’s plan to expand operations has been condemned by many world leaders. “Israel’s initial steps to militarily take over Gaza City signal a new and dangerous phase,” António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, said on Thursday.

In Israel, hundreds of thousands joined nationwide demonstrations Tuesday, calling on the government to accept a ceasefire proposal that Hamas agreed to this month.

It is unclear whether Netanyahu will accept the proposal. A spokesperson for the Israeli government, David Mencer, stopped short of saying Israel would reject the proposal but told journalists this week that Israel was “going for a full agreement, and no longer a piecemeal agreement.”