Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu. | Photo: Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Monday (7 October 2024) to return all hostages still held by Palestinian militants in Gaza as the country marked the first anniversary of the October 7 attack from Hamas.
“On this day, in this place and in many places in our country, we remember our dead, our hostages whom we are obliged to return and our heroes who fell in defense of the homeland and the nation. a terrible massacre one year ago,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office.
The prime minister’s comments came just hours after an Israeli campaign group announced the death of another hostage held in Gaza.
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum said Idan Stivi, 28, was abducted from the Nova music festival venue and “his body is still in the hands of Hamas”.
The October 7 Hamas attack left 1,205 people dead on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures that included hostages killed in captivity.
Of the 251 people taken hostage that day, 97 are still being held in the Gaza Strip, including 34 who the Israeli military says are dead.
More than 41,909 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, according to figures provided by the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. The UN recognized these data as reliable.
Published – October 7, 2024, 11:43 PM IST
