Israeli soldier killed, his body held in Gaza, military says

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army said Monday a soldier was killed and his body held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

A military statement identified the slain soldier as Sgt. Maj. Muhammad Alatrash, 39, who served as a tracker in the army's Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade.

The army said Alatrash was killed on Oct. 7 and his body was then taken hostage to Gaza.

His death was recently declared based on findings and new intelligence information, the army said.

According to Israel’s Army Radio, out of 120 Israeli hostages in Gaza, there are 75 captives still alive.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

More than 37,600 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and nearly 86,100 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara