The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday recovered the body of 38-year-old hostage Itai Svirski, who was previously murdered by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. The “body of Israeli hostage Itai Svirski was recovered from the Gaza Strip and returned to Israel for burial,” the IDF said in a press statement Wednesday. Svirski’s body was recovered after Israeli authorities confirmed his death in January along with the fellow hostage Yossi Sharabi.
Svirski, abducted from his parents’ home in Kibbutz Be’eri, was “murdered in captivity by Hamas terrorists, around four months after he was taken hostage on October 7, 2024,” the Times of Israel reported, citing military sources.
“During his time in Gaza, he was held alongside hostages Yossi Sharabi and Noa Argamani,” the Israeli news outlet added, “The IDF has assessed that Svirsky was murdered by Hamas terrorists several days after the strike that likely killed Sharabi, and that he did not die in another strike, as the terror group had claimed.”
Svirski’s parents were murdered in the October 7 massacre, and he was taken to Gaza alive. “Svirsky, 38, a resident of Tel Aviv, was visiting his family in Kibbutz Be’eri on Saturday October 7, and was kidnapped alive to Gaza. His parents, Orit and Rafi Svirsky, were murdered in the massacre at the kibbutz,” the Israeli news website YNET reported.
Svirski was held in captivity with Noa Argamani, the female hostage rescued in a daring IDF operation in early June. He was executed by Hamas captors a month ahead of the rescue operation and did not die in an Israeli strike, the military confirmed.
Considering the fact that Svirski was held captive in the Hamas stronghold of Nuseirat, the body was likely found in central Gaza. The IDF, however, did not reveal the details of the recovery operation due to intelligence concerns. “His body was recovered in a sensitive operation, with details of the location and recovery method withheld to preserve operational security for future missions,” the newspaper Israel Hayom reported.
Nearly 100 Israeli hostages are still believed to be in Hamas captivity for over 42o days, many of them feared murdered by Gaza terrorists.
Israel eliminated a senior Hamas terror operative in an airstrike in southern Gaza. The Israeli Air Force “struck and eliminated several terrorists who were in the Humanitarian Area in Khan Yunis. Among the terrorists eliminated was Osama Ghanim, a senior terrorist in Hamas’ Internal Security Forces.,” the military disclosed in a statement Thursday.
The slain terrorist “held a key role in implementing Hamas’ brutal methods, which included conducting harsh civilian interrogations while violating human rights,” the IDF statement noted.
The targeted Hamas terror operative was hiding in the Khan Younis humanitarian, the IDF confirmed.
While the Hamas terrorists embedded themselves in the humanitarian zones, the IDF took meticulous care to minimize civilian casualties during the strike. The military took “numerous steps” to “mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the statement noted.
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