Israeli bombardment killed captive soldier in Gaza, family says
The family of an Israeli soldier held captive by the Hamas resistance movement has said he was killed by Israeli airstrikes during the genocidal war on Gaza.
Tamir Nimrodi, whose body was returned to Israel on Tuesday under the recent ceasefire agreement, had been captured alive by Palestinian resistance fighters on October 7, 2023.
In a statement on Wednesday, his family and the captives forum confirmed that Nimrodi died while in captivity due to Israeli bombardment on Gaza, placing responsibility for his death on Israel’s military offensive.
“Tamir was abducted alive from his base and killed by Israeli army bombings in captivity,” the statement read.
The Israeli military also confirmed that Nimrodi was captured alive and died at the start of the war.
Dozens of Israeli captives are believed to have been killed by Israeli air strikes and gunfire during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
A senior Hamas official told media that the Israeli public “should hold Prime Minister Netanyahu, his cabinet, and the Israeli army responsible for the killing of these captives and the loss of their bodies under the rubble.”
“As a result of the genocidal war committed by Israel, many captives were killed along with their Palestinian resistance guards, and communication was lost with some of the units responsible for their bodies,” the source said.
Israeli media have acknowledged the occupying regime’s “hidden defeat” in the two-year war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Four bodies were returned to the occupied territories on Monday, while Hamas has pledged to recover and return the remaining 21 deceased captives once they are located amid the rubble left by Israeli bombardment across Gaza.
On Monday, Hamas released all 20 living captives. In return, around 2,000 Palestinian detainees were released.
As part of the ceasefire agreement, the bodies of approximately 400 Palestinians are to be returned to Gaza in exchange for the deceased Israeli captives. Israel has so far released around 45 bodies.
Medical sources said that some of the corpses showed signs of torture, execution, or having been run over by tanks. Others were without limbs.
Palestinians officials say over 10,000 abductees remain unlawfully held in Israel
Early on Tuesday, Israel threatened to roll back parts of its ceasefire commitments aimed at easing the siege on Gaza.
Israeli authorities kept the Rafah crossing with Egypt closed and significantly restricted the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged strip.
The crossing was almost entirely destroyed by Israeli forces during their invasion of Rafah.
The Islamic Jihad resistance movement says the release of Palestinian abductees from Israeli jails is the fruit of resistance fighters’ bravery and national unity.
Palestinian authorities in Gaza have reported at least 27 violations of the ceasefire agreement by Israel so far, including the killing of at least seven people on Tuesday.
Hamas says it is abiding by the truce, while human rights groups are calling for international investigations into grave Israeli breaches of international law.
The death toll from the Israeli genocide since October 2023 has now risen to 67,938.
