Remains said identified of 12-year-old October 7 victim Liel Hetzroni

The remains of 12-year-old Liel Hetzroni, who was killed in the October 7 Hamas assault on her home in Kibbutz Be’eri have been formally identified, the Ynet news site reports, citing family members.

A ceremony was held last week to bid goodbye to Hetzroni and her aunt Ayala even though there was no official identification for Liel at the time.

In place of the 12-year-old’s body, personal items that belonged to Liel were buried.

However, Ynet reports that forensic archaeologists working at the site have now managed to positively identify Liel’s remains and informed the family yesterday.

Liel and her aunt Ayala were killed along with Liel’s twin, Yanai, and the twins’ grandfather, Avia Hetzroni. Yanai and Avia Hetzroni were buried October 23 in Revivim.

Omri Shifroni, a relative of the family, told Ynet at the time of the ceremony that no one came out alive from the Hetzroni home on October 7.

“As a secular family, we know they were killed and it’s less important to us to have an official stamp,” says Shifroni. “We’re bidding Liel goodbye because the situation is impossible.”