«The body of Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldier Noa Marciano, who was kidnapped by the terrorist organization Hamas, was recovered by Army troops from a structure adjacent to Al Shifa hospital from Gaza,» an Israeli military statement reported. «After an identification process carried out by military medical personnel and the rabbinate, representatives of the IDF yesterday informed his family that his body was extracted and returned to Israeli territory«added the Army letter, which on Tuesday had confirmed the death of the young soldier in the hands of Hamas, the second discovery of this type in recent hours.
That confirmation came hours after the release of a video on Monday night in which Hamas showed images of Marciano in captivity before and after his death, which, according to the Islamist group, was caused by an Israeli bombing on the Strip on November 9. The video, broadcast on the Telegram channel of the al Qasam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, showed a message in which the soldier asked that the bombings stop because those kidnapped could die. And then they saw each other photographs of her apparently dead, with a serious head injury and missing a foot.
The Army’s announcement about the discovery of the young woman’s body comes shortly after it was reported that The body of Yehudit Weiss – a 65-year-old Israeli woman also kidnapped – had been found. in the vicinity of the Al Shifa hospital, where Israel maintains that the Islamist group’s main military infrastructure is located. According to some Israeli media, Weiss was a mother of five children 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 captured, while her husband, Shmulik Weiss, was murdered.
The al-Qasam Brigades rejected in a statement Israeli accusations that the group held hostages in Gaza hospitals, saying that they «transferred a number of them (to medical centers) to receive treatment due to the seriousness of their health conditions.»
More fuel for the Strip
Israel announced that two tanker trucks loaded with diesel will be able to enter Gaza daily from Egyptthrough the Rafah border crossing, in a concession offered in the face of international pressure to allow the arrival of fuel to the Strip, a necessary element for the generation of electricity and the operation of many basic civil services, such as hospitals.
«The War Cabinet unanimously approved a joint recommendation by the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet (domestic intelligence service) to comply with the United States request and allow the entry of two diesel tankers per day for the needs of UN support for water and sewage infrastructure,» said an Israeli government official.
Meanwhile A convoy of 40 humanitarian aid trucks entered the Strip through the Rafah border crossing, where 30 injured Palestinians left who will receive treatment in the United Arab Emirates, humanitarian sources informed the press. A member of the Red Crescent said in an interview that those vehicles managed to unload medical supplies and food, while volunteers and humanitarian workers organized the accumulated loading of about 150 trucks at the Rafah crossing when the UN humanitarian agency on Tuesday Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) stopped its activity due to lack of fuel.
From Israel, meanwhile, some politicians continue to add fuel to the fire: the vice president of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), Nissim Vaturi, urged «to burn Gaza» in a message spread on social media in reaction to his country’s government’s decision to let aid into Gaza. «All this concern about whether or not there is Internet in Gaza shows that we have not learned anything. We are too human. «Burn Gaza now, nothing less (than that)!» wrote Vaturi, of the right-wing Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the social network X. And He stated: «Do not allow fuel in, do not allow water in until the hostages are returned!»
Israel’s advance
On the military level, the Israeli Army announced the capture and destruction of an important weapons production post of the Islamist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in the north of the Gaza Strip. According to a statement, Israeli forces took over the post on Thursday and seized numerous weapons that they transported in two trucks, including Badr-3 surface-to-surface rocket parts, drone parts and intelligence material from the Hamas ally.
During the operation, the soldiers were attacked from a building with an anti-tank missile and then an Israeli helicopter attacked the shooting site. However, they do not give figures for military casualties. The operation lasted twelve hours and the post was located next to a Gaza court and a Turkish hospital.
The other fronts
On the other side of the map, in the West Bank, at least three Palestinians were killed and nine others injured in an Israeli attack during a raid in Jenin, which, according to Palestinian sources, spread to the city’s main hospital. In addition, the Israeli Army reported that its troops killed two suspected Palestinian terrorists who opened fire on a group of soldiers. «Two terrorists recently arrived by car at the Zeit intersection near Hebron and fired at the forces operating there. Fighters from Reserve Battalion 8106 shot and killed the two terrorists,» the military police spokeswoman explained. .
On Israel’s northern front, the Lebanese group Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 13 attacks against Israeli military targets, one of them with drones, which represents a new intensification of its operations within the framework of the crossfire that the parties have been exchanging for six weeks.
The armed movement explained that its actions this Friday targeted seven «groups of Israeli soldiers», a tank and a detachment of the Jewish State’s special forces. Since last October 8, the Shiite formation and Israel have been engaged in intense cross attacks across the divide between both countries, an outbreak that has already left dozens dead, more than 300 injured and 26,000 internally displaced on the Lebanese side alone.