The Association of Hostage Families announced on Tuesday that the Israeli hostage kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 has been killed.
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The Israeli army informed Uriel Barush's family that his body was being held in Gaza, according to this press release, which did not specify the date or circumstances of his death.
“The Tikva Hostage Families Forum is in mourning after the announcement of the killing of Uriel Baruch,” the association wrote.
Uriel Barouch, 35, a father of two, was kidnapped during the Nova Music Festival, the scene of the October 7 massacre of 364 people by Hamas commandos.
“Uriel was a happy man who was loved by everyone,” his family said in the press release. “We will remember his smile and his love for others.”
The Palestinian Islamic Movement took more than 250 hostages in an unprecedented attack on Israeli territory. About a hundred of them were released in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners during a fighting truce at the end of November. According to the results of the Israeli authorities, 130 are missing, including 34 dead.
The October 7 attack killed more than 1,160 people, the majority of them civilians, according to a census conducted by Agence France-Presse based on official Israeli data.
In response, Israel launched an attack that left more than 32,000 people dead in Gaza, the vast majority of them civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
