The Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet rescued a fallen soldier who was killed on October 7 and his body hostage since then by Hamas in Gaza. The body was rescued and returned to Israel overnight on Wednesday in a joint IDF and ISA operation, the IDF and ISA announced on Wednesday evening.
With the recovery of the body 107 hostages remain held in Gaza, more than 50 of whom - according to estimates - are still alive.
The soldier fell during the October 7 massacre and was taken hostage to Gaza. His family has been notified. His family requested that his name not be made public.
"We send our deepest condolences to the family and will continue to accompany them," the IDF said in a statement.
The soldier had been identified as a fallen soldier whose body was being held in Gaza a few months ago, and since then - as part of concentrated intelligence and investigation operations - security forces have been trying to determine the location of his body, with a push in the last few weeks. Special forces, along with Nahal fighters and the 401st Brigade conducted the overnight operation to rescue body, which was hidden by being buried in the ground, but not in a tunnel.
According to a joint statement by the IDF and ISA, the operation was led by the 162nd Division with the participation of IDF and ISA special forces, and troops of the Nahal Brigade and the 401st Brigade. The intelligence effort was conducted by the IDF Hostage and Missing Persons Unit together with the ISA and the Unit of International Crime Investigations of the Lahav 433 of the Israel Police.
The effort took place over several months and consisted of intelligence gathering, and analysis that worked to generate a single assessment, according to the IDF.
"Alongside the operational effort, the IDF Manpower Directorate's Hostage and Missing Persons Center, which is responsible for accompanying the families of the hostages, operated to identify the hostage and inform the family," according to the statement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement: "This evening our forces returned home the remains of a fallen IDF soldier whose name has not been released for publication. The fighter fell in a heroic battle on October 7 while defending the communities of the Western Negev. The heart of the entire nation grieves over the terrible loss. My wife Sara and I convey our heartfelt condolences to his family. I would like to thank the brave fighters and commanders of the ISA and the IDF for their important action. The State of Israel will continue to make every effort to return our hostages home, the living and the deceased.""
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also welcomed the operation. "I greatly appreciate the IDF and Shin Bet fighters for a determined and valuable operation to retrieve the body of an IDF soldier who fell in battle during the Hamas attack on October 7. The return of the soldier's body to anIsraeli grave is further proof of a mutual guarantee and to our commitment to the return of all the hostages - the living and the dead. At this difficult time, my heart goes out to the family."
The rescue of the fallen soldier's body comes less than a day after the rescue of hostage Farhan Alkadi alive from the Hamas tunnel where he was found alone, in the southern Gaza Strip. According to a report in the New York Times, the IDF force operating in the underground complex came across it "by accident," but the forces were acting there based on intelligence and on the basis of suspicion that there might indeed be hostages there. Farhan told his relatives that "when the soldiers reached the tunnel, the Hamas terrorists ran away . The soldiers called to me. I was afraid that the tunnel was booby-trapped, so I walked slowly."