Israel army says 4 returned hostage bodies identified
The Israeli military has said the bodies of four hostages returned by Hamas have been identified, including that of a Nepalese student, AFP reports.
In a statement, the military named two of the victims as Guy Iluz, an Israeli national, and Bipin Joshi, an agriculture student from Nepal. The names of the other two hostages have not yet been released at the request of their families, the statement added.
Iluz, who was 26 at the time of the attack, reportedly tried to flee the site of the Nova music festival in a jeep and later hid in a tree, from where he made his last contact with his parents before being captured and taken to the Gaza Strip.
The military claimed Iluz was injured and abducted alive by fighters, but later died of his injuries due to a lack of medical treatment while in captivity. It did not specify when he actually died, though his death was announced in December 2023.
Joshi, who was 22 at the time of the attack, was part of a Nepalese agricultural training group that had arrived in Israel three weeks before the Hamas assault. He was abducted from Kibbutz Alumim and was photographed sheltering with Thai workers shortly before fighters reached the area.