he Israeli Army said on Friday that its troops recovered the body of 19-year-old female soldier Noa Marciano, who had been abducted by Hamas militants last month, from the Gaza Strip.
The military had confirmed Marciano’s death in Hamas captivity on Tuesday, following the release of a video by the Islamist group showing her lifeless body.
Her body was retrieved on Thursday from a building adjacent to Shifa Hospital, a military spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the IDF informed her family that Marciano’s body had been found and returned to Israeli territory.
The al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, had released a propaganda video on Monday, depicting Marciano before and after her death, claiming she died on Nov. 9 in an Israeli bombing.
The video, circulated on the group’s Telegram channel, showed Marciano appealing to the military to cease bombing Gaza, expressing concern that the hostages held by Hamas could be killed.
On Thursday night, the Israeli military also reported the recovery of the body of another hostage, Yehudit Weiss, 65, who was kidnapped on Oct 7 during a multi-pronged attack by Palestinian militants in Israel.
The attack resulted in the death of 1,200 people and the abduction of more than 240 persons.
The Israeli army said the two bodies were recovered near the Al Shifa hospital, used by militants as the Islamist group’s military base.
According to some Israeli media, Weiss was a mother of five and was receiving medical treatment for breast cancer.
On the day of the Hamas attack, she was at her Kibbutz Beri home when she was taken captive, while her husband, Shmulik Weiss, was found murdered.
Israeli forces continued their operation in the Al Shifa hospital, the largest in the strip.
According to Israel, Hamas hides what would be its main military center in the enclave in the medical facility and its surroundings. The Islamist group has denied it
By Nadeem Faisal Baiga
