Dror Or return to Israel. The 48-year-old chef and cheesemaker from Kibbutz Beeri was identified by Israel’s National Center for Forensic Medicine, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced in a press release issued Wednesday, November 25. He was killed on October 7 in a Hamas terrorist attack, as was his wife Yonat. Their two children, Noam and Alma, have been kidnapped. His death was confirmed by the Israeli army in May 2024.
A day earlier, the Prime Minister’s service announced that it had received the remains of hostages from the Red Cross, which were discovered Monday afternoon by Islamic Jihad. The coffin was handed over to the Israeli army and the Shin Bet, the internal security service, “will be transferred to Israel, where he will be welcomed in a military ceremony”, before being sent to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine so that the body can be identified, the Prime Minister’s office stressed in a press release.
The announcement came after Hamas and its allies announced they would return him to the organization this afternoon. Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the attitude of Islamic Jihad, saying he was guilty of not handing over the body to the authorities. Behavior that likely violates the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, according to Netanyahu.
“In light of Islamic Jihad’s announcement regarding the location of the bodies of the deceased hostages, Israel considers the delay in immediate handover a matter of serious concern. This constitutes a further violation of the agreement” The ceasefire, which has been in effect since October 10 in the Palestinian territories, was indicated in a press release from Netanyahu’s office.
The movement, considered a terrorist organization by many countries, said on Monday that it had identified the remains of the hostages still in Gaza. “during a search operation in territory controlled by the Zionist army (Israel, editor’s note) in the middle of the Gaza Strip”according to a press release from the al-Quds Brigades.
At the end of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that took effect on October 10 under pressure from the United States after more than two years of war in Gaza, Hamas and its allies still had to return three bodies. Since the beginning of the ceasefire, Hamas has released 20 living hostages in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and has begun returning the bodies of dead hostages. Of the 28 people affected, 26 were repatriated to Israel. The final two bodies were that of an Israeli, a policeman, Ran Gvili, and a Thai, a farm worker, Sudthisak Rinthalak.
A ceasefire agreement came into force on October 10 in the Gaza Strip, after more than two years of devastating war sparked by the October 7 attack. For nearly a week, Hamas and Israel have accused each other of not respecting the fragile ceasefire.
Renew at 07:59 with the identification of Dror Or.
