Israel has confirmed Hamas handed over the remains of Tanzanian national, Joshua Loitu Mollel, on Wednesday under the US-brokered Gaza ceasefir3 deal.
Military and Foreign Ministry representatives notified Mollel’s family that his body was returned to Israel after forensic experts completed the identification at the National Centre of Forensic Medicine.
Mollel, 21, an agricultural intern at Kibbutz Nahal Oz near the border with Gaza, was seized alive, then m#rdered by Hamas terr0rists on the morning of October 7, 2023, and his body was taken to Gaza.
A graphic video shows the moment Joshua was st@bbed and then sh0t by the terr0rists.
He is survived by his parents and four siblings.
“The government of Israel shares in the deep s0rrow of the Mollel family and all the families of the fallen hostages,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement on Thursday.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel paid tribute to Mollel, citing the 21-year-old’s family as saying he had a big smile that never left his face.
“The families of the hostages and the returned embrace the family of Joshua Loitu Mollel at this difficult time, following the return of their beloved Joshua yesterday so he may be laid to rest,” the Forum said in a statement.
“Amid their grief and the knowledge that their hearts will never fully heal, Joshua’s return offers some comfort to a family that has endured unbearable uncertainty for over two years. We will not rest until every hostage comes home.”
Kibbutz Nahal Oz said in a statement that it was “in pain and shares the deep sorrow of the family of Joshua Loitu Mollel.”
Before handing over Mollel’s remains to the Red Cross in Gaza on Wednesday night, Hamas’ military wing said it had recovered a hostage’s body in the eastern Shejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza city.
The Red Cross transferred the remains to Israeli soldiers in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces inspected the casket before draping it in an Israeli flag and holding a short ceremony led by a military rabbi.
The bodies of six sl@in hostages now remain held in the Strip — five Israelis and one foreign national: Meny Godard, Lt. Hadar Goldin, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, Dror Or, Lior Rudaeff, and Sudthisak Rinthalak.
