We blame you for brother’s death in Gaza
Hostage family’s fury at Netanyahu
THE sister of a dead Israeli hostage has blamed her country’s government after his body was recovered from Gaza.
Israel’s military confirmed yesterday it had retrieved the body of farmer Elad Katzir, 47, and said he was killed in January by Islamic Jihad militants.
Elad’s sister, Carmit Palty Katzir, claimed on social media he would have been returned alive had Benjamin Netanyahu’s government agreed to a ceasefire.
She wrote on Facebook: “Our leadership is cowardly and driven by political consideration, which is why this deal has not happened yet. Prime Minister, war cabinet, and coalition members: Look at yourself in the mirror and say if your hands didn’t spill blood.”
Islamic Jihad is one of the groups that entered southern Israel in the October 7 attack, where they killed more than 1200 people and took about 250 hostages.
Elad had been abducted along with his mother, Hanna, who was released in November. His father, Avraham, was killed during the attack in Nir Oz, a border community that suffered some of Israel’s heaviest losses.
The discovery of Elad’s body came as negotiators prepared to begin another round of talks on brokering a ceasefire and securing the release of the remaining hostages, six months into the war. It renewed pressure on Israel’s
government for a deal to get the remaining hostages freed, as families have long feared time is running out.
At least 36 hostages in captivity have been confirmed dead, while about half of the original number have been released. Meanwhile, the war’s death toll in Gaza is now 33,137, the territory’s Health Ministry said, with more than a million Palestinians displaced.
“We have arrived at a terrible milestone,” the UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement marking six months and noting “the immediate prospect of a shameful man-made famine”.
Israelis are divided on the approach by Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government after multiple rounds of st a l l e d c e a s e f i re negotiations.
They will resume tomorrow, according to an Egyptian official and Egypt’s stateowned Al Qahera TV. US President Joe Biden has sent CIA director Bill Burns to Egypt for additional talks about the hostages, a ceasefire and securing the country’s border with Gaza. A Hamas delegation will also join the talks.