The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security agency announced on Wednesday 4 December that the body of a hostage was recovered by Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, 14 months after his kidnapping and nearly a year after he was murdered in Hamas captivity.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a press conference that Svirsky’s body was recovered “in operational activity, details of which cannot be expanded upon, in order not to endanger the operational efforts of the IDF and Shin Bet.”
Earlier this year, the IDF said that Svirsky had been murdered in captivity by Hamas terrorists, around four months after he was taken hostage on October 7, 2024.
During his time in Gaza, he was held alongside hostages Yossi Sharabi and Noa Argamani. Sharabi was likely inadvertently killed as a result of an IDF strike, the military said in February, and Argamani was rescued in the summer.
The deaths of hostages Sharabi and Svirsky were announced by officials in mid-January.
The IDF has assessed that Svirsky was murdered by Hamas terrorists several days after the strike that likely killed Sharabi, and that he did not die in another strike, as the terror group had claimed.
Following the announcement on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement expressing his condolences to Svirsky’s family and pledged to continue working to return all remaining 100 hostages.
Source: The Times of Israel
