JERUSALE: The Israeli military said on Sunday that a soldier believed to have been held hostage in the Gaza Strip died during Hamas’s October 7 attack.
Captain Daniel Perez, 22, was killed in the unprecedented attack on southern Israel which triggered the ongoing war in Gaza, and “his body is in the hands of a terrorist organization,” a statement said.
He is the 33rd hostage confirmed dead — including eight soldiers — out of about 130 captives still held in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas militants seized about 250 hostages during the attack which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
Perez’s family has been notified and he has been posthumously promoted to the rank of lieutenant, Sunday’s military statement said.
Confirmation of his death comes five days after the military announced that another soldier believed to be held in Gaza, 19-year-old Sergeant Itay Hen, also perished on October 7.
At a rally calling for the return of hostages on Saturday night, Perez’s father, Rabbi Daniel Perez, said “all the hostages taken from their cradles, from their beds and those who defended their people must return unconditionally.”
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign to eliminate Hamas has killed at least 31,645 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Israel is expected to send a delegation to Qatar to participate in a new round of talks about a potential truce in Gaza that would also see hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.