The National Center for Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir confirmed that Inbar Hayman and Master Sergeant Muhammad al-Atarash were the two deceased hostages returned to Israel on Wednesday night, the Prime Minister's Office stated on Thursday morning.
"The Government of Israel shares in the deep sorrow of the families of Hayman and al-Atarash and all the families of the fallen abductees," the PMO stated.
The forensic investigation found that Hayman was murdered during the October 7, 2023, massacre, and her remains were taken into the Gaza Strip.
She was 27 years old at the time and had attended the Nova Music Festival. She was pronounced murdered on December 15, 2023, leaving behind her parents and a brother.
M.-Sgt. Atarash was a tracker in the IDF's Gaza Brigade. He fell in combat on October 7, 2023, and was 39 years old. He left behind parents, siblings, two wives, and 13 children.
The identification process was conducted through coordination with the Israel Police and the Military Rabbinate.
Hostage Families Forum, Defense Minister Katz eulogize the murdered hostages
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum released statements eulogizing Hayman and Atarash on Thursday morning.
Hayman was "talented, loving, and inclusive, with a spirit of infinite generosity," the forum wrote.
Relatives commented that she was "brimming with creativity and full of joy for life." She studied film in high school, building a reputation over the years as a "respected graffiti artist with a unique style."
She was known, through her graffiti art, by the nicknames "Pink" and "Raven," which led to the slogan "Free Pink" being used as a call for her release following the massacre.
Hayman attended the Nova festival as a "helper," who supported dancers who were not feeling well.
Atarash was described as a "serious guy who cared for everyone," with a particular fondness for animals, especially the horses he raised.
His dream, the forum wrote, was to establish his own horse farm.
Defense Minister Israel Katz also eulogized the two murdered hostages in a post on X/Twitter.
Katz described Hayman as "a true heroine who fought Hamas's murderers" and whose family "fought desperately for her return."
He stated that her relatives told him about her talent as a graffiti artist, her service as a commander in the IDF's Caracal Battalion, and the future that she had wanted to build.
He also wrote about how Atarash's father and brother accompanied him to numerous meetings with world leaders, both in Israel and abroad, to share Muhammed's story.
He recounted how, during a visit of Belgium's foreign minister to Kibbutz Nir Oz, Atarash's brother asked her to secure the release of the hostages and "nobly" asked her to free kidnapped women first, not knowing for sure yet that his brother had been murdered.
Concluding, Katz affirmed that Israel is "committed to bringing home all the hostages and the fallen."
Proper burial in their own country
"The government and the entire Israeli Public Security Bureau are determined, committed, and working tirelessly to return all of our fallen abductees for a proper burial in their own country," the PMO statement noted, adding that Hamas was required to uphold its end of the ongoing ceasefire and hostage deal.
The terror organization was required to return all the hostages, both alive and deceased. So far, however, 19 deceased hostages still remain in Gaza.
The news of Hayman and Atarash’s identification follows news from Thursday night that the remains of two deceased hostages had been brought to the National Center of Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir for identification.
Before that, the Red Cross had delivered the remains to Israel from captivity in Gaza after Hamas’s armed wing, Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, announced that it would release the remains.
So far, in addition to the living hostages, Hamas has released the remains of nine deceased hostages back to Israeli territory.
Before Hayman and Atarash, the returned deceased hostages were Guy Illouz, Yossi Sharabi, Bipin Joshi, Daniel Peretz, Uriel Baruch, Staff-Sergeant Tamir Nimrodi, and Eitan Levi.