Israeli authorities on Tuesday confirmed that the bodies they received from Hamas were those of Guy Illuz, Nepalese agricultural student Bipin Joshi and two additional hostages.
“Following the completion of the identification process by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in collaboration with the Israel Police and the Military Rabbinate, IDF representatives informed the families of Guy Illuz, Bipin Joshi, and two additional deceased hostages whose names have not yet been cleared for publication by their families, that their loved ones have been brought back for burial,” read the statement by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.
Illuz was injured and abducted alive by the Hamas terrorist organization on Oct. 7, 2023 after he fled the Supernova music festival toward the Tel Gama area, the statement said, citing information and intelligence available to the IDF.
He died from his wounds “after not receiving proper medical treatment while held captive by Hamas. He was 26 years old at his death,” the statement added.
Joshi, 23, was abducted by Hamas terrorists from a bomb shelter in Kibbutz Alumim. He was murdered in captivity during the first months of the war, according to an assessment shared by the IDF.
Under the terms of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, Hamas must provide the bodies of 28 people it had abducted or taken from Israel in addition to the 20 living hostages it has returned. So far, only the four bodies mentioned in the statement have been returned. According to reports before the handover, the four bodies were of Illuz, Bipin, Capt. Daniel Peretz and Yossi Sharabi.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents some of the relatives of the captives held in Gaza, wrote in a statement that the bodies’ return “brings some measure of comfort to families who have lived with agonizing uncertainty and doubt for over two years,” while noting that this comes “alongside the grief and the understanding that their hearts will never be whole.”
