Body of Tanzanian student murdered by Hamas finally repatriated

Hamas returned Joshua Loitu Mollel’s body in early November after holding it for more than two years.

By World Israel News Staff

The body of a Tanzanian exchange student murdered by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 was flown back to his home country on Tuesday, bringing an end to more than two years of anguish for his family.

Joshua Loitu Mollel, 21, had been in Israel for only about three weeks before the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel. He had recently begun an agriculture work-study program on Kibbutz Nir Oz and is believed to have been kidnapped alive but murdered hours later.

Before Mollel’s coffin was flown home on Tuesday morning, Israeli and Tanzanian officials, along with members of the public, gathered at Ben-Gurion Airport for a memorial ceremony.

Tanzanian Ambassador to Israel Alex Gabriel Kalua laid a wreath on the coffin, which was draped with flowers and the flags of Israel and Tanzania.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an advocacy group that has long fought to return the bodies of those abducted and killed on Oct. 7, expressed “deep sorrow over Joshua’s murder” in an open letter to his family.

“We, the families of hostages from Israel, share your path of suffering — in anxiety over Joshua’s fate, in horror and grief upon receiving news of his murder, and in concern that he would not be returned,” the letter read.

“We hope that his return for burial beside you in Tanzania will provide your souls with certainty and rest, and that you will know comfort.”

Mollel’s body was returned to Israel by the Hamas terror group in early November, after being held in Gaza for more than two years. He is survived by his parents and four siblings.

Ambassador Eynat Shlein, who heads the international cooperation entity that facilitated Mollel’s agricultural studies program in Israel, said a scholarship in his name will be established at his university in Tanzania.