Israel has received remains of one of the last deceased hostages held in Gaza, in the fourth such transfer this week.
On Saturday morning, the Israel Defense Forces said the remains were identified as Command Sergeant Major Lior Rudaeff.
The 61-year-old was killed at Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak during the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023. He was the deputy security coordinator for the community’s rapid response team. His remains were held in Gaza throughout the course of the war sparked by that attack.
Hamas transferred the remains to Israel via the Red Cross. The return means the bodies of five deceased hostages remain in Gaza.
Transfers of deceased hostages from Hamas to Israel is one of the key conditions of the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire.
Israeli intelligence has assessed that Hamas may not be able to find and return all the remaining dead hostages in Gaza.
On Sunday, Israel received the bodies of Israeli-American Omer Neutra, as well as those of Asaf Hamami and Oz Daniel. Two days later, Israel received the body of Itay Chen, the last Israeli-American dual citizen whose remains were held in Gaza. And on Wednesday, Hamas transferred the remains of Joshua Loitu Mollel, a Tanzanian agricultural student who was abducted from Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 7, 2023.
Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of US Central Command, spoke at Neutra’s funeral in Israel on Friday. “Omer made the ultimate sacrifice we hope no soldier ever has to make, but many have made it nonetheless, in service to a higher cause,” Cooper said. “We express our deepest condolences for the loss of Omer.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has continued to organize rallies in Tel Aviv and elsewhere across Israel calling for the release of the remaining deceased hostages. Eitan Horn, who was recently freed after 738 days in captivity, said in Hostages Square on Saturday, “I cannot begin my journey of healing and recovery as long as I know there are families who are not with me on this journey. We have no future without the return of all the hostages.”
Earlier this week, CNN also reported that Israel believes it has new information about the location of the longest-held remains in Gaza, belonging to Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed in the final days of the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas. Goldin’s remains, according to two Israeli sources, are likely held in Rafah in southern Gaza near an area where up to 200 Hamas militants are hiding in underground tunnels in territory occupied by Israeli forces.
Catch-up immunization campaign for Gaza’s children
In war-ravaged Gaza, the United Nations announced an immunization campaign to reach thousands of Palestinian children who have missed essential vaccines since the start of the conflict over two years ago.
“UNRWA, together with UNICEF, WHO, and partners, is launching a catch-up immunization campaign to reach 44,000 children with life-saving vaccines and malnutrition screening,” UNRWA, the main UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said on Friday.
The announcement comes as the death toll of Palestinians in Gaza since October 7, 2023 exceeded 69,000 on Saturday, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Since the ceasefire with Israel came into effect in October, 241 people have been killed in Gaza, while the bodies of 522 Palestinians have been recovered from under the rubble, the ministry added.
Aid has resumed flowing into the enclave after the ceasefire came into effect last month, but the scale of the need remains high after months of meager shipments.
At least 460 people in Gaza died of starvation, including 154 children, according to the Palestinian health ministry in the enclave, since Hamas launched its attack on Israel in October 2023 prompting a relentless Israeli bombardment campaign.
The UN has said that more than one million children are in need of mental health and psychosocial support.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families are also at risk of facing a winter without “desperately needed protection from the elements,” according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The UN-coordinated entry of essential shelter materials and tents into the enclave faces “major limitations,” the agency added.
Last winter, several children and adults died from hypothermia as a result of the cold and the lack of winter supplies.
