Body of hostage recovered in Gaza military operation

Maya Goren was from kibbutz Nir Oz and was taken hostage on October 7th.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

The body of hostage Maya Goren was recovered during a military operation.

Maya Goren was from kibbutz Nir Oz and was taken hostage on October 7th.

Nir Oz municipality said in a statement, ‘Tonight, we were informed that the body of the late Maya Goren was recovered in a military rescue operation.”

It added, “After over nine months, she was brought back home for burial. The family was updated about the operation in the last few hours.”

“The Nir Oz community will continue the fight for the return of all of the abducted, the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for burial.”

Last week, the IDF announced two more Israeli hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip since October 7th have been confirmed as dying while in captivity, the IDF announced Monday.

An army spokesperson said that intelligence has verified that 35-year-old Yagev Buchshtav, a resident of the Gaza border town of Nirim, and Alexander Dancyg, 76, of Nir-Oz, are no longer alive.

“IDF representatives on Monday informed the families of Yagev Buchshtav and Alex Dancyg, of blessed memory, who were brutally kidnapped to the territory of the Gaza Strip, that they are not among the living, and their bodies are being held by the Hamas terror group,” the army said Monday.

“The decision to declare their deaths was based on intelligence information and approved by the Health Ministry’s committee of experts, in cooperation with the Religious Affairs Ministry and Israel Police.”

The Hamas terror organization claimed on March 10th that the two captives had been killed by Israeli forces operating in the Gaza Strip.

Israel declined to comment on the claim initially until additional information was gathered regarding the condition of the captives and the possibility they were inadvertently killed by the IDF.

The IDF spokesperson emphasized that despite claims by Hamas that the two were killed by the Israeli military, the army has yet to determine with certainty the cause of death.