The Israel Defense Forces recovered the body of a soldier in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday who was killed fighting Hamas operatives during the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, the military announced.
The soldier’s family has been notified and, at their request, his name is not yet being made public.
“The entire nation mourns the terrible loss … and I send our condolences from the bottom of our hearts to his family,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday night.
“I would like to thank the brave fighters and commanders of the IDF and Shin Bet [Israel Security Agency] for their important action. The State of Israel will continue to make every effort to return all our abductees, both alive and dead,” he added.
A total of 107 hostages remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza.
“I commend the IDF and ISA forces who conducted a bold operation to retrieve the body of a fallen soldier from Gaza, and brought him home for burial in Israel,” said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday night. “This operation reflects our commitment to bringing all the hostages home.”
On Tuesday, Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, from the Bedouin city of Rahat in the Negev Desert, was rescued from a tunnel in southern Gaza in a “complex operation.”
Alkadi, the father of 11 children, was released from Beersheva’s Soroka Medical Center on Wednesday afternoon. He was held in captivity for 326 days after being abducted by Hamas from Mivtachim on Oct. 7.
Last week, the IDF recovered the bodies of six hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7 from a tunnel in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
In an operation involving the IDF and ISA, the bodies of Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, Yagev Buchshtav, Chaim Peri and Alex Dancyg were located more than 10 months after the Hamas massacre.
