Israel has confirmed the return and identification of two more hostages killed in Hamas captivity, as efforts intensify to locate the remains of 19 others still held in Gaza.
Since Monday, Hamas has handed over the bodies of nine deceased hostages and one additional body it claimed was Israeli, but which the IDF later identified as an unknown Gazan. Israeli officials said an international task force — including teams from Egypt, Qatar, and the United States — is being assembled to coordinate searches inside the enclave, with an Egyptian recovery unit already operating in Gaza.
The National Center for Forensic Medicine, working alongside the Israel Police and Military Rabbinate, confirmed the identities of Inbar Heyman hy”d, 27, of Haifa, and Sgt. Maj. Muhammad al-Atrash, 39, of the al-Atrash Bedouin tribe. Both were abducted during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.
Heyman, a volunteer at the Nova music festival when she was kidnapped, was a rising graffiti artist known internationally under the names Pink and Raven. Her family learned in December 2023 that she had been murdered during the assault. The slogan “Free Pink” became a rallying cry across Israel and abroad during her months in captivity.
Al-Atrash, a veteran tracker with the IDF’s Northern Gaza Division, was killed in combat on Oct. 7 while confronting Hamas terrorists. His body was taken into Gaza and officially declared lost until June 2024. He is survived by his parents, siblings, two wives, and 13 children.
In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office said Israel “shares in the deep sorrow” of the Heyman and al-Atrash families and reaffirmed its commitment “to bringing every fallen abductee home for proper burial.”
The IDF echoed the pledge, vowing to continue its mission “until every hostage and fallen soldier is returned.”
Israeli officials also pressed Hamas to abide by existing mediation agreements and return all bodies still held in Gaza. “We will not compromise on this,” the government said. “Israel will spare no effort until every last abductee is home.”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
One Response
what about the “bodies of eight deceased hostages” in the headline?