The bodies of two Israelis returned from Gaza earlier this week were expected to be buried on Wednesday, underscoring that while many in the country were celebrating the return of the living hostages from Gaza, others were also mourning the dead.
A funeral for one of those whose bodies were returned, Guy Ilouz, will take place in the afternoon in central Israel, according to the Hostage Families Forum, which has advocated on behalf of the families of those held in Gaza. Mr. Ilouz was abducted in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack that ignited the Gaza war.
The body of Daniel Peretz, whose tank crew battled Hamas militants at an Israeli military installation on Oct. 7, 2023, was also scheduled to be buried Wednesday evening, according to the Forum. Mr. Peretz, who was 22, was declared dead by the Israeli military in March 2024 and his family held a funeral for him at the time.
Hamas militants in Gaza have handed over the remains of eight people since Monday. Israel has identified six of those bodies as Israelis and one more as a Nepali. The identity of the eighth was not yet clear.
Hamas officials have said the group is struggling to quickly locate all the bodies that have been held in Gaza, because of the vast destruction across the enclave after two years of war. Israeli officials have suggested that they could take measures to penalize Hamas for not turning over more bodies, including limiting the number of trucks entering Gaza with supplies.
Mr. Ilouz, who was 26, was injured and taken hostage by Hamas after fleeing the Nova music festival in southern Israel, according to the Israeli military. The military said that he succumbed to his wounds after not receiving proper medical care while held in Gaza.
Maya Regev, who was freed from captivity in Gaza in November 2023, met Mr. Ilouz at a hospital in the enclave. “You suffered a week alone until I arrived,” she wrote to him on Tuesday on social media. “We spoke about the most simple and pure things in the darkest and most horrific place that man has known.”
Gabby Sobelman contributed reporting.
Adam Rasgon is a reporter for The Times in Jerusalem, covering Israeli and Palestinian affairs.
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