Israel recovers buried body of 47-year-old farmer during night raid
ISRAEL’S army conducted a night raid to retrieve the buried body of a 47-yearold farmer abducted on Oct 7 and allegedly later murdered, it said yesterday.
“The body of the abductee Elad Katzir, who according to intelligence was murdered in captivity by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organisation, was rescued overnight from Khan Younis and returned to Israeli territory,” the Israeli army said.
An official said that his body had been found buried and they believed he was killed in mid-January.
On Friday, troops, backed by air and ground support, walked on foot to a camp in southern Khan Younis to excavate the body.
His sister Carmit Katzir has lambasted the Israeli government for not doing enough to bring back the hostages, saying her brother “could have been saved if a deal would have happened on time”.
Addressing the “cowardly” government in a Facebook post, she said, “Look at yourselves in the mirror and see if your hands didn’t spill that blood. You have 133 more kidnappers to redeem, worlds to save.”
Mr Katzir had last been seen alive in a hostage video released by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) on Jan 8.
The 47-year-old called on the Israeli government to do more to bring about his release in the video.
Israel believes he was murdered shortly afterwards.
Talks on a hostage deal for the remaining 100 or so captives plus around 30 bodies are set to restart today as part of broader ceasefire negotiations. Hamas has said that it will not “back down” from its demands, which include a ceasefire, withdrawal of Israel from Gaza and a hostage exchange.
Israel is undecided on whether to attend, according to a military official who cited concern that the event would be “more political theatre than actual progress”.
Earlier, Joe Biden, the US president, penned a letter to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar calling on them to up the pressure on Hamas to “agree to and abide by a deal”.
In a statement to mark the conflict reaching its half-year mark today, Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president, said the country is fighting a “bloody and difficult war”.
“Today at 6:29 am [0329 GMT], we mark six months since the cruel terror attack and the horrific massacre,” Mr Herzog said yesterday, referring to the Hamas assault that started the war.
Mr Herzog’s remarks came as tens of thousands of Israelis protested against Right-wing prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war.
The Oct 7 attack by Hamas resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people in southern Israel, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures. Of the 250 hostages seized by Palestinian militants, the army says 129 remain in Gaza, including 34 who are presumed dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 33,137 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.