The body of this woman, who was kidnapped at the Beeri kibbutz, “was recovered by Israeli army troops,” an IDF press release said.
The Israeli army said on Thursday that it had discovered the body of a hostage kidnapped by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack in Israel near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
The body of this woman abducted from Kibbutz Beeri “was recovered by Israeli army troops from a building next to Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip and transferred to Israeli territory,” an army press release said.
First hostage found in Gaza since October 7th
The victim is identified by the military as Yehudit Weiss.
“Military equipment was also found in the building where Yehudit was located, including Kalashnikov rifles and rocket launchers,” the army added.
It is the first time since the Israeli army’s military offensive against Hamas that one of the hostages kidnapped on October 7 has been found in the Gaza Strip.
According to authorities, around 240 people were captured during the Hamas attack on Israeli territory that day, leaving 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians.
Pictures of hostages discovered in hospital
In retaliation, Israel declared a war to “annihilate” Hamas and relentlessly bombed the Gaza Strip, where Hamas seized power in 2007. According to the Hamas government, at least 11,500 people were killed.
Earlier in the day, the army announced that “images related to the hostages” had been found on computers seized from Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, which had been stormed for two days.
Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza, is portrayed by Israel as a Hamas strategic and military center, which it denies.
Entering the hospital on Wednesday, the Israeli army said it was searching it as part of a “targeted” and “complex” operation carried out “in stages” while, according to the United Nations, around 2,300 people – patients, caregivers and Displaced people – are there, are still there.