Remains of Israeli Medic Missing Since October 7 Recovered Near Kibbutz Nir Oz

Jerusalem, 3 June, 2024 (TPS) -- The remains of a volunteer Israeli medic who was thought to have been abducted on October 7 were discovered near Kibbutz Nir Oz, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Monday morning.

Dolev Yehud, who volunteered for both the Magen David Adom and United Hatzalah emergency responders, was last seen leaving his home on the kibbutz on the morning of October 7. It was initially thought the 35-year-old was abducted and taken to Gaza with other hostages.

The remains had been found in November, but it took months for experts at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv and the Camp Shura military facility near Rehovot to positively identify them as Yehud.

Meanwhile, with no indications from intelligence that Yehud was in Gaza, Israeli authorities began to evaluate the possibility that he was killed in the area of Nir Oz. Many of the people killed on October 7 were burned beyond recognition, and Israel turned to archaeologists to help find and identify the remains.

Yehud is survived by his wife and four children, one of whom was born after October 7. Yehud’s 28-year-old sister, Arbel, remains a captive in Gaza.

At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 124 remaining hostages, 39 are believed dead.