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The body of presumed hostage Dolev Yehoud was located in Kibbutz Nir Oz, the IDF spokesperson announced Monday morning.
The identification was made after a scientific identification and a thorough analysis by the IDF in coordination with anthropological experts, according to the IDF.
Yehoud, 35, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was a paramedic with United Hatzalah and Magen David Adom organizations. During the brutal October 7 terror attacks when his community was occupied by the Nukhba terrorists, Dolev left his house in an attempt to save lives. He left his pregnant wide, Sigal, and three young children between the ages of 5 and 9 in the family's safe room.
He was murdered by Hamas terrorists that day, and his body has now been located in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Initially, the IDF believed Yehoud had been abducted into Gaza by Hamas terrorists, but after receiving no indications that he was among the hostages in Gaza decided to again look into unidentified remains found in the kibbutz from the day of the massacre.
His sister Arbel Yehoud is still held captive by Hamas.
Bodies and parts of bodies were found in unrecognizable condition in the kibbutz and other border areas in the first days of the war. The IDF had tried to determine whether Yehoud had been killed or kidnapped into Gaza for several months. After receiving no signs through various channels that he was being held in Gaza, the IDF began to investigate whether his remains remained in Israeli territory.
His DNA was tested against some of the unidentified remains with no conclusive results, leading to repeated tests and further scientific investigation.
The family was informed on Sunday night that Yehoud's remains had been identified.
"After an identification procedure carried out by medical officials at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine and the Tzvi Bishura Institute. IDF representatives delivered a message to the family. The IDF shares in the family's grief at this difficult time," the IDF said in a statement.
The number of hostages that remain in Gaza now stands at 124.
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Sigal Yehoud gave birth to the couple's 4th child, Dor, a week and a half after October 7
(Photo: Tomer Shunam Halevi)
Sigal (Sigi) Yehoud, Dolev's widow, was in her ninth month of pregnancy on October 7, and gave birth to her daughter a week and a half later. In February, she recounted the horrors of that day: she and her children - Raz , 8, Yotam, 6, and Ron, 4 - hid in the safe room in their home in Nir Oz, while her husband, went out to provide first aid.
"We were at the hospital from 6:30a.m., without food and without water, when I was trying to make three children quiet and calm and at the same time also keep myself under a minimum of pressure so that contractions wouldn't start," she said, "Dolev wrote to me that morning to be calm, to regulate breathing. And then contact with him was cut off."
Dolev's daughter, who was born a week and a half after the massacre, was named Dor. "The most different thing about Dor's birth is that Dolev wasn't there," Sigi said, "He was with me in all the other births, held my hand, calmed me, cut the umbilical cord, took the babies in his hands for the first time already in the delivery room. A father who is so involved from the first moment."
The couple had known each other since the age of 12, in sixth grade, and the longest period in which they were separated was when Dolev started his post-army trip ahead of her. After three months she joined him. "What scares me the most is the thought that he won't know his daughter," she said in an interview which was held about three months before the announcement that his body was found.