Israeli hostage Sahar Baruch, kidnapped by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas during the October 7 attacks, was killed during a rescue operation in Gaza in December, the Israeli military confirmed this Wednesday.
“We have informed the Baruch family that their son Zahar, who was a hostage in Gaza, was killed during a rescue operation by special forces. [israelitas] December 8 night,” the army said in a statement.
“The circumstances of his death cannot be determined at this time, whether he was killed by fire from our forces or whether he was killed by Hamas,” the statement added.
On December 9, Hamas announced the hostage's death during an Israeli military operation and released a video showing Sahar Baruch's body.
The Association of Family Members of Hamas Hostages and the Be'eri 'kibbutz' (community) where the 25-year-old lived confirmed the death.
His brother Aydan was killed during a Hamas attack on October 7, while his parents and two other brothers survived the kibbutz massacre, where at least 85 people were killed.
The October 7 attack led to continued conflict between Israel and Hamas. That day, 1,140 people were killed, mostly civilians but about 400 soldiers, according to the latest official Israeli figures. About 240 civilians and soldiers were abducted, and Israel says 127 remain in the Gaza Strip.
In response, Israel, which has vowed to destroy the Palestinian Islamist movement, has been bombing the Gaza Strip since October 7, where, according to the local government led by Hamas, more than 22,000 people have already been killed – mostly women, children and young people. – – and more than 54 thousand people were injured, mostly civilians.
The Israeli offensive has destroyed much of Gaza's infrastructure and forced nearly two million people from their homes, nearly 2.3 million of whom have been under Hamas control since 2007.
The people of the Gaza Strip are facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis due to the collapse of hospitals, outbreaks of epidemics and shortages of drinking water, food, medicine and electricity.
Since October 7, more than 300 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military and settler attacks in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
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