The Israeli Special Forces extracted the body of the 47-year-old hostage, Elad Katzir, who was murdered by the terrorists in Gaza. “The operation to retrieve the body was carried out by the Commando Brigade, following intelligence provided by the Shin Bet security agency and the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate,” The Times of Israel reported Saturday.
Elad, who was forced to appear in two propaganda videos during the captivity, was reportedly murdered by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), an Iran-sponsored terrorist group which took part in the Hamas-led October 7 massacre.
Elad’s body was recovered from Khan Yunis, a town just a couple of miles from the last-standing terrorist stronghold of Rafah where Hamas’s top leadership is hiding behind nearly 100 remaining Israeli hostages. “The body of the abductee Elad Katzir, who according to intelligence was murdered in captivity by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, was rescued overnight from Khan Yunis and returned to Israeli territory,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF )said in a statement on Saturday. “His body was located based on precise IDF and ISA [the Israel Security Agency also known as Shin Bet] intelligence, and an accurate identification of IDF ground troops.”
Elad was taken hostage from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his 78-year-old mother Hanna, His father Avraham was murdered besides other 39 residents of the small kibbutz community.
‘During the October 7th massacre, Elad Katzir was abducted by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization from Kibbutz Nir Oz. His mother, Hanna, was also abducted by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization and released on November 24 as part of the agreement for the release of abductees, and his father, Avraham, was murdered in the kibbutz,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported.
The military vowed to bring back the bodies of all dead Israeli hostages. “Our mission is to locate and return the abductees home. The IDF and the ISA are working in full coordination with the relevant national and security bodies and will continue until the task is complete,” the IDF said.
Of 135 remaining Israeli hostages in captivity since October 7, some 35 of them are believed to be dead — many of them executed by the terrorists.
“Based on various sources of information, Israel has declared at least 35 hostages as dead in Gaza captivity,” the Jerusalem Post reported Saturday. the newspaper noted that in many cases “hostages whose bodies were recovered bore signs of execution.”
Israel military and security services remain vigilant as Iran threatens to carry out a ‘direct attack’ aimed at the country after a series of alleged Israeli strikes killed several Iranian Islamic Guard (IRGC) terror operatives and Hezbollah commanders in Syria and Lebanon.
According to U.S. intelligence, Tehran may launch a large-scale kamikaze drone incursion into the Israeli airspace. “The U.S. has picked up intelligence that Iran is planning a retaliatory attack that would include a swarm of Shahed loitering drones and cruise missiles,” the CBS reported early Saturday.
The terror threat issued by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi were renewed on Saturday by the regime’s army chief Mohammad Bagheri.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday warned Tehran against carrying out terrorist attacks against Israel. “We will know how to defend ourselves, and we will act according to the simple principle: that those who harm us or plan to harm us, we will harm,” Netanyahu said.
The Times of Israel reported the Iranian army chief’s threat:
Iran on Saturday again threatened retaliation for the deaths of seven Revolutionary Guards in a strike on Damascus, with the army chief saying his country’s enemies will “regret” the killings and threatening to exact “maximum damage.”Tehran has vowed to avenge Monday’s air strike on the Syrian capital it blamed on Israel, which has not commented.The attack leveled the Iranian embassy’s consular annex in Damascus, killing seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members including two generals.Iran’s response “will be carried out at the right time, with the necessary precision and planning, and with maximum damage to the enemy so that they regret their action,” Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri said on Saturday.
The Israeli armed forces, backed by the Shin Bet security agency, eliminated a senior Hamas operative overseeing the terror group’s ‘Internal Security’ arm, the IDF disclosed on Saturday. The slain terrorist was responsible for past attacks in Israel and was directing operations against Israeli military operating in Gaza.
“IAF fighter jets struck and eliminated Akram Abd Al-Rahman Husein Salamah, a senior terrorist operative of Hamas’ Internal Security,” the IDF said in a press release. “Akram held several key positions in the terrorist organization, including Deputy Head of the Khan Yunis District.”
The slain terror operative was “responsible for planning and executing significant terror attacks in Israeli territory, as well as directing terror activities in the Gaza Strip designated to damage IDF counterterrorism activities,” the military noted.
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