Israel announced that the remains of a hostage recovered Friday in Gaza were those of Idan Shtivi.
The IDF said Saturday the body of the 28-year-old, who was held hostage for 693 days in Gaza, was recovered in a joint operation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Shtivi, a student of sustainability and government, was identified by the Institute of Forensic Medicine.
Shtivi was kidnapped from the Nova music festival in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war. Israel said he helped save several people during the attack.
Netanyahu’s office said Friday it also recovered the remains of hostage Ilan Weiss.
Forty-eight hostages now remain in Gaza of the over 250 seized. Israel had believed 20 are still alive.
Their loved ones fear the expanding military offensive will put them in even more danger, and they were rallying again Saturday to demand a ceasefire deal to bring everyone home.
Mahmoud Illean / AP
“Netanyahu, if another living hostage comes back in a bag, it will not only be the hostages and their families who pay the price. You will bear responsibility for premeditated murder,” Zahiro Shahar Mor, nephew of hostage Avraham Munder, said in Tel Aviv.
The bodies of Israeli hostages were recovered as Israel’s military announced Friday that it had launched the “initial stages” of a planned offensive to seize Gaza City, declaring the Palestinian territory‘s biggest population center a “dangerous combat zone.”
Meanwhile, Israel said Saturday it will soon slow or halt humanitarian aid into parts of northern Gaza.