Israeli army says it found body of Hamas hostage near Al-Shifa hospital

The body of this woman, kidnapped in the kibbutz of Beeri, “was extracted by Israeli army troops,” according to an IDF press release.

The Israeli army announced Thursday that it had discovered, near Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, the body of a hostage kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7 attack in Israel.

The body of this woman, kidnapped in Kibbutz Beeri, “was extracted by Israeli army troops from a structure adjacent to Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip and was transferred to Israeli territory” , said an army press release.

First hostage found in Gaza since October 7

The victim is identified by the army as Yehudit Weiss.

“In the structure where Yehudit was located, military equipment, including Kalashnikov rifles and rocket launchers, was also found,” the army added.

This is the first time since the military offensive launched by the Israeli army against Hamas that one of the hostages kidnapped on October 7 has been found in the Gaza Strip.

Around 240 people were captured that day on Israeli territory during the Hamas attack which left 1,200 dead, mainly civilians, according to the authorities.

Images of hostages discovered in hospital

In retaliation, Israel declared a war to “annihilate” Hamas, relentlessly bombing the Gaza Strip, where Hamas took power in 2007. At least 11,500 people were killed, according to the Hamas government.

Earlier in the day, the army announced that “images relating to the hostages” had been found on computers seized from the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, which had been stormed for two days.

Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza, is presented by Israel as a strategic and military center of Hamas, which it denies.

Entering the hospital on Wednesday, the Israeli army said it was searching it as part of a “targeted” and “complex” operation, carried out “in stages”, while, according to the UN, around 2,300 people – patients, caregivers and displaced, are still there.