Israel has received the remains of one of the last dead hostages held in Gaza in a fourth transfer this week.
On Saturday morning, the Israel Defense Forces announced the identity of the body as Sergeant Major Lior Rudaev.
The 61-year-old was killed in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak during a Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. He was the Deputy Security Coordinator for the Community Rapid Response Team. His remains were kept in Gaza throughout the war sparked by that attack.
Hamas transferred the remains to Israel through the Red Cross. The return means the bodies of the five deceased hostages remain in Gaza.
The transfer of the dead hostages from Hamas to Israel is one of the key conditions of the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire.
Israeli intelligence assesses that Hamas may not be able to locate and return all of the dead hostages remaining in Gaza.
On Sunday, Israel received the bodies of Israeli-American Omer Neutra, as well as Assaf Hammami and Oz Daniel. Two days later, Israel received the body of Itai Chen, the last Israeli-American dual citizen whose remains were kept in Gaza. And on Wednesday, Hamas transferred the remains of Joshua Loitu Morel, a Tanzanian agricultural student who was abducted from Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 7, 2023.
Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, spoke at Neutra’s funeral in Israel on Friday. “Omer made the ultimate sacrifice that no soldier should ever make, but many soldiers still make the sacrifice for a nobler cause,” Cooper said. “We express our deepest condolences on the death of Mr. Omer.”
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum continues to organize rallies in Tel Aviv and across Israel calling for the release of the remaining deceased hostages. Eitan Horn, recently released after 738 days in captivity, said Saturday at Hostage Square: “We cannot begin our journey of healing and recovery as long as we know that we have family members who are not with us on this journey. Without the return of all hostages, we have no future.”
CNN reported earlier this week that Israel believes it has new information about the whereabouts of the longest-kept remains in the Gaza Strip, belonging to Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, who was killed in the final days of the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas. Two Israeli sources said Goldin’s body is likely being kept in Rafah, in southern Gaza, near an area where up to 200 Hamas militants are hiding in underground tunnels in Israeli-occupied territory.
In the war-torn Gaza Strip, the United Nations has announced a vaccination campaign to reach thousands of Palestinian children who have been unable to receive essential vaccines since the conflict began more than two years ago.
UNRWA, the UN’s lead agency for Palestinian refugees, announced on Friday: “UNRWA, in collaboration with UNICEF, WHO and partners, is launching a catch-up immunization campaign to reach 44,000 children with life-saving vaccines and screening for malnutrition.”
Aid has resumed flowing into the enclave after a cease-fire took effect last month, but the scale of need remains high despite several months of small aid deliveries.
At least 460 people, including 154 children, have starved to death in the Gaza Strip since Hamas began relentless shelling of Israel in October 2023, according to the enclave’s Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The United Nations has announced that more than 1 million children are in need of mental health and psychosocial support.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families are also at risk of facing winter without “much-needed protection from the elements.” The UN-coordinated delivery of essential shelter materials and tents into the enclave faces “significant restrictions”, the agency added.
Last winter, several children and adults died of hypothermia due to the cold and lack of winter supplies.
