Israel announced today the death of an octogenarian hostage whose body is being held in the Gaza Strip, saying he was killed on October 7, 2023 during the Hamas attack that took his remains.
In a statement, the Israeli army said it had already informed Shlomo Mansour's family that "he was assassinated by the terrorist organization Hamas on October 7, 2023" and that his body is still being held in the Gaza Strip.
"The decision to confirm his death was made based on information gathered over the last few months," the statement added.
Born in Iraq, Shlomo Mansour, who turned 85 on October 7, 2023, was one of the founders of Kibbutz Kissoufim, where he was killed.
Paying tribute to their memory, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on social media that "the government will do everything to bring back all hostages, dead and alive."
Earlier, Kibbutz Kissoufim announced that it had received “news of the assassination” of Shlomo Mansour.
His 60-year-old wife, Mazal Mansour, had managed to escape during the October 7 attack. The couple has five children.
"This is one of the most difficult days in our history," said a statement from the kibbutz.
"Shlomo was much more to us than just a member of the community. [...] Our hearts are broken that we were unable to bring him back alive," the statement read.
Kibbutz officials called on the Israeli government and the international community to "continue to act with determination to bring back all hostages, dead or alive, and not allow painful stories like Shlomo's to be repeated."
Although the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on January 19, the truce remains particularly fragile.
On Monday, the Palestinian Islamist movement threatened to delay the release of Israeli hostages scheduled for Saturday, arguing that Israel had violated the truce agreement.
Israel described Hamas's decision as a "total violation" of the agreement and ordered its army to prepare for "all scenarios".
The Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killed around 1,200 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 73 remain hostage in Gaza, 35 of whom have been declared dead by the Israeli army.
More than 48,200 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory military campaign in the Gaza Strip, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas government's Gaza Health Ministry deemed reliable by the UN.
