Yehudit Weiss was undergoing cancer treatment at the time of her abduction

Yehudit Weiss was undergoing cancer treatment at the time of her abduction

Yehudit Weiss was undergoing cancer treatment at the time of her abduction

Six weeks after the militant group Hamas stormed into Israel and took over 200 people hostages, the body of one of them was recovered from near Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza on Thursday, the Israel Defence Forces claimed.

The deceased has been identified as Yehudit Weiss, a 65-year-old woman who was undergoing cancer treatment at the time of her abduction. Her husband was murdered on October 7 during the Hamas rampage.

The IDF said its soldiers found Weiss's body near the Al-Shifa hospital  along with assault rifles and RPGs said to belong to Hamas terrorists who had held her captive. 

"To our sorrow, Yehudit was murdered by the terrorists in the Gaza Strip. And we didn’t get to her in time," IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari was quoted by The Times of Israel.  He did not specify how and when she was killed, adding that military, medical and rabbinate personnel had identified the body and informed her family.

She is the second abductee known to have died in captivity in the last week, after the IDF confirmed the death of 19-year-old Noa Marciano on November 14.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday that a woman abducted into Gaza by Hamas terrorists on October 7 has given birth in captivity. 

In a letter released by the premier’s office on Wednesday, Netanyahu’s wife Sara told US first lady Jill Biden: "One of the kidnapped women was pregnant. She gave birth to her baby in Hamas captivity. You can only imagine, as I do, what must be going through that young mother’s mind as she is being held with her newborn by these murderers," she wrote. "We must call for the immediate release of them and all those being held… The nightmare that began over a month ago must end."

Though she was not identified, reports said the woman was a foreign worker in one of the Israeli towns bordering the enclave.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that one of the reasons the IDF raided the Al-Shifa hospital was "strong indications" that some of the hostages taken by Hamas-led terrorists during their October 7 onslaught were being held there. However, Netanyahu told CBS in an interview that the captives had since been removed from the compound. Israel has intelligence about the hostages. The less I say about it the better," Netanyahu added.

On whether a deal with Hamas was in the works, the Prime Minister said Israel was closer than before we began the ground action. "The ground action has put pressure on Hamas to achieve a ceasefire. We’ll have a temporary ceasefire if we can get our hostages. I don’t think it serves that purpose for me to elaborate further on that," he said. 

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