Some weeks ago, Israel completed its mission to return all captives from Gaza, marking the first time in over a decade that no Israelis are being held as terror bargaining chips.
After two years, the IDF announced it had located the body of the last hostage in Gaza, Ran Gvili, found in a cemetery after intelligence obtained from a captured terrorist revealed the location.
After hundreds of soldiers were killed and thousands wounded in the effort to recover Israel’s precious hostage taken on October 7, these well-deserving troops finally allowed their emotions and tears to flow.
Kidnapped during Israel’s 2014 Operation Protective Edge against Hamas in Gaza, Lt. Hadar Goldin was killed and his body taken into a tunnel, where it remained hidden until the current ceasefire.
Freed hostage Matan Angrest, kidnapped from his tank on October 7, spoke at Capt. Daniel Peretz’s funeral after Peretz was killed and his body returned this week following Hamas captivity.
Alexander, flanked by his family, described the honor as a reminder of communal resilience.
Ori Megidish, who was rescued by Israeli forces three weeks after her abduction, also rejoined the military several months later and was assigned to an intelligence unit.
Meanwhile, on Aug. 13, the IDF killed Muhammad Naif Abu Shamala, a company commander in Hamas’s Nukhba force, the military confirmed on Tuesday.
Liri, who has stayed out of the public eye, is joined by another former observer considering a return to the IDF, though their privacy is being protected.
Atzili was initially declared abducted until early December 2023, when his family was informed he had been killed.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage on Oct. 7th.
Edan Alexander, an IDF soldier stationed at the Nirim base in southern Israel, was kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7th massacre and held underground in Gaza for 584 harrowing days before his release last night.
Omer Neutra, a native of Long Island, New York, left home to serve in the IDF as a lone soldier.
The IDF announced they recovered the body of Itai Svirsky, 38, a German-Israeli who was visiting his elderly parents at Kibbutz Be’eri for Shabbat and the Simchat Torah holiday on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists launched their massacre.
Keep that rescue in mind when you hear Israel being accused of committing ‘genocide’ of Palestinian Arabs.
‘The entire nation mourns the terrible loss … and I send our condolences from the bottom of our hearts to his family,’ said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
