Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offers heartfelt condolences to the family of Aviv Atzili, whose body was taken into Gaza during the Oct.7, 2023, attack and recovered by the IDF last week.
“Aviv bravely went out to defend his Kibbutz Nir Oz, fell in battle against the murderers, and was kidnapped to the Gaza Strip,” says Netanyahu in a statement.
“I would like to thank the IDF and the Shin Bet for their determined action to return him,” he continues. “We will not rest until we bring home all of our hostages- both the living and the dead.”
A warrant officer in reserves and a member of Kibbutz Nir Oz’s civil defense squad, Atzili was killed battling Hamas-led terrorists in the Gaza border community on October 7. He was 49.
According to the IDF, after being killed in battle, Atzili’s body was abducted by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad to Gaza.
During the operation on Wednesday, the IDF also recovered the body of slain hostage Yair Yaakov, who was also murdered in Nir Oz on October 7.
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