Israel says body of hostage recovered during overnight Gaza raid

Elad Katzir was abducted along with his mother Hanna Katzir from Kibbutz Nir Oz on 7 October

Israel says it has recovered the body of Elad Katzir, a man who was taken hostage during the 7 October Hamas attack on southern Israel.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that Mr Katzir’s body was recovered from Gaza overnight and brought back to Israel.

“The body of the abductee Elad Katzir, who according to intelligence was murdered in captivity by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organisation, was rescued overnight from Khan Younis and returned to Israeli territory,” the IDF said, adding that the victim was identified by medical officials and that his family has been informed.

Mr Katzir, 47, was abducted along with his mother Hanna Katzir from Kibbutz Nir Oz on 7 October when Hamas and other affiliated Islamist groups attacked southern Israel, killing an estimated 1,200 Israelis and taking more than 250 people hostage.

Ms Katzir was among the hostages released by Hamas in November as part of a series of temporary ceasefire agreements and prisoner swaps, while his father was murdered in Nir Oz.

“Our mission is to locate and return the [remaining] abductees home,” the IDF said, adding that they were “working in full coordination with the relevant national and security bodies and will continue until the task is complete.”

The Israel-Hamas war has dragged on for more than half a year, becoming one of the deadliest conflicts of the century.

Since the 7 October cross-border attack by Hamas, Israeli forces have invaded and pummeled Gaza, causing the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians and the displacement of millions.

More than 33,000 Palestinians, including over 13,000 children, have died since the war began, according to estimates that come from the Israeli military, the Gaza health ministry, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The UN has warned that the Gaza Strip is on the brink of famine, with families in the besieged northern part of the strip forced to survive on “less than a can of beans a day.”

International agencies have accused Israel of severely limiting the flow of food aid into Gaza, something Israel has denied. Seven aid workers, including three Britons, were killed in an Israeli air strike on Monday, an incident which has led to global condemnation and the firing of two senior military officers.

Even though a vast majority of Gaza’s population has now fled to the southernmost city of Rafah, over 300,000 people are still believed to be trapped in the north, which has seen the worst of the Israeli bombardment.

Israel has said it intends to launch a ground offensive into Rafah next, though its closest ally the US has urged it to reconsider doing so.

Meanwhile, Hamas continues to fire rockets into Israel from Gaza while Hezbollah and other militant groups are doing so from southern Lebanon. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are both still believed to hold hostages taken during the 7 October raid, as well as the bodies of those who died in captivity, with no end in sight to the conflict.