There are still 53 hostages held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. The IDF published on Monday an announcement of recordings from the operation that retrieved the bodies of hostages Yair Yaakov and Aviv Atzili both from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Yaakov’s family announced immediately that his body had been retrieved, while Atzili’s family waited several days to make the announcement.
'Our human and national duty'
Speaking to his troops, Col. M, the commander of the 188th Brigade, said, “Not only is this a privilege, it is born of a deep sense of moral and existential responsibility to return every Israeli hostage to their family and their homeland.”
He added, “Bringing the bodies of our brothers to proper burial is our human and national duty.”
Several freed hostages took to social media over the last few days to lament what they said were conditions that were so much worse than what Israelis are experiencing right now - to hostages stuck underground in Hamas tunnels, trying to survive.