The Israeli army announced on Friday the deaths of five hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Their families were informed of this sad news in advance.
During the few days of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, several dozen hostages were rescued. However, more than a hundred people are still in the hands of the Palestinian Islamist movement and are being held captive in very difficult conditions. The fate of many of them is uncertain as there is little evidence of life. The Israeli army also announced on Friday that five of those people had died.
“In recent days, the Israeli army and police have informed the families of hostages Eliyahu Margalit, Maya Goren, Ronen Engel and Arye Zalmanovitz of their deaths,” spokesman Daniel Hagari said. “An expert panel from the Ministry of Health, the Institute of Forensic Medicine, the Chief Rabbinate and the Ministry of Religious Affairs determined her death based on conclusions (of an investigation) and intelligence information,” he said. “The body of hostage Ofir Zarfati” was returned at the end of a “joint operation with Shin Beth (the Israeli domestic intelligence service)” so that “he could be buried in Israel,” the IDF representative explained.
Eliyahu Margalit
75-year-old Eliyahu Margalit had lived in Kibbutz Nir Oz since 1969. He devoted many years to raising livestock. “He always wore work clothes and boots, milked cows and took care of a sick calf seven days a week,” Sivan Klingbail, who grew up on the same land, told Haaretz. The septuagenarian was the father of Nili Margalit, who had been released a few days earlier.
Maya Goren
Maya Goren, also from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was a kindergarten teacher. At the time of her abduction, the 56-year-old woman was at work surrounded by children. Her husband Avner was murdered in a surprise attack by Hamas on October 7th.
Ronen Angel
At the age of 54, Ronan Engel had been living on Kibbutz Nir Oz for more than a decade when he was kidnapped along with his partner Karina and their daughters Mika and Yuval – who have since been released. As he wanted to retrain, he had recently acquired a diploma in water technology, Haaretz states.
Arye Zalmanovitz
Arye Zalmanovitz, 86, is the oldest hostage ever captured by Hamas. He is one of the founding members of Kibbutz Nir Oz. Last October, during a demonstration for the release of prisoners, his son Avi Zalmanovitz asserted that his father had been “called to a national mission” in 1955 and that he had gone to lead the kibbutz founded where he became a farmer. recalls Haaretz. “Even in the most difficult years, when there was no food and missile warnings gave him only ten seconds to find shelter, he refused to leave the kibbutz,” he said. He emphasized again.
Ofir Zarfati
Ofir Zarfati was kidnapped on October 7th during the Tribe of Nova music festival, where he celebrated his birthday with his loved ones, and died at just 27 years old. He originally comes from Kiryat-Ata, a city with just over 50,000 inhabitants in the Haifa district, and studied electrical engineering.
MG with AFP