The IDF retrieved the bodies of Eden Zechariah and IDF Warrant Officer Ziv Dado, two of the Israelis taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said on Tuesday.
The bodies were retrieved by soldiers from Unit 504 of the Intelligence Directorate and the 551st Brigade operating in Gaza.
The bodies underwent an identification procedure by medical officials and military rabbis, together with the Institute of Forensic Medicine and Israel Police.
The Zecharia and Dado families have been informed.
Zecharia was kidnapped from the party in Re’im and Dado was kidnapped while serving as a logistics foreman in the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade.
Two soldiers fell in attempt to retrieve hostage bodies
Master-Sgt. (res.) Gal Meir Eisenkot and Master-Sgt. (res.) Eyal Meir Berkovich fell during the operation to retrieve the bodies.
“The national mission before our eyes is to locate the missing and return all the hostages home. We are working together with the security agencies, with all the intelligence and operational means to bring all the hostages home,” said the IDF.
“We share in the deep sorrow of the Zechariah family,” said the Hostage and Missing Families Forum. “Eden Zechariah was full of joy of life and loved to spend time at parties. She went to a party in Re’im with her partner Ofek Kimchi who was murdered at the party.”