The Israeli military confirmed on Wednesday that Israeli hostage Sahar Baruch, who was kidnapped during the Hamas attack on October 7, was killed during a rescue operation in Gaza in December.
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“We informed the Baruch family that their son Sahar, a hostage in Gaza, was killed during a rescue operation by special forces on the night of December 8,” the army said in a statement.
“At this point, we cannot determine the circumstances of his death, nor whether he was killed by fire from our forces or whether he was assassinated by Hamas,” the army added.
Hamas announced the death of this hostage in an army rescue attempt on December 9 and released a video showing his remains.
An association of hostage relatives and the Kibbutz Beeri where the 25-year-old lived confirmed his death.
His brother Idan was killed during the Hamas attack on October 7, while his parents and two other brothers escaped the kibbutz massacre in which at least 85 people were killed.
According to a count by the AFP news agency based on official Israeli data, the Hamas attack in Israel claimed around 1,140 lives, mostly civilians. Movement commandos had taken around 250 people hostage, 129 of whom are still being held in Gaza.
The nearly three-month-long war has left 22,313 people dead in the Gaza Strip, mostly women, youth and children, according to the latest Hamas government report.