Bodies of last remaining female hostage and IDF Bedouin soldier returned to Israel

The bodies of two further hostages returned to Israel on Wednesday evening have been officially identified as the remains of the last remaining female captive in Gaza and that of a Bedouin IDF soldier who fell in battle against Hamas. 

Inbar Hayman was kidnapped alive from the Nova festival on 7 October 2023. She was then murdered, and her body taken into caoptivity, where it was kept for 740 days.

A talented graffiti artist known by the name “Pink”, 27-year old Hayman managed to hide at the Nova site for more than two hours, but was captured by other terrorists who came riding a motorcycle.

In the videos that documented her kidnapping, she appeared unconscious.

Thirty-nine year old Muhammad Al-Atrash was killed fighting Hamas on 7 October, 2023. The body of the Israeli Bedouin, a tracker in the Northern Brigade of the Gaza Division, was abducted and denied to his family and his 13 children, including a newborn, just a month old when he was murdered.

A devoted father from the Bedouin village of Sa’wa in the Negev, Mohammed’s loved ones endured months of uncertainty until June 2024, when Israel confirmed he had died in battle near Kibbutz Nahal Oz.

A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said that the identification process was completed earlier by the National Centre for Forensic Medicine, in cooperation with the Israel Police and the Military Rabbinate.

It said, “The Israeli government shares in the deep sorrow of the families of Heyman and Al-Atrash and all the families of the fallen hostages. The government and the entire Prisoners of War and Missing Persons system of the State of Israel are determined, committed and working tirelessly to return all of our fallen hostages for a proper burial in their country.”

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum said it “mourns and bows its head in memory of Sgt. Maj. Mohammed Al-Atrash and shares in the deep sorrow of his family.”

Hanna Cohen, Heyman’s aunt, told Ynet that “we closed the circle and brought Inbar back, but we brought her back in a closet, and it’s hard. We fought for her for two years. There is a certain excitement that she will finally get the final rest she deserves, and that her parents will have somewhere to go and cry. We have 19 more siblings in captivity and we need to bring them all back.”

She added: “Inbar was a commander in Karakal for three years, that’s a detail we hid. She is an Israeli hero. She came to Nova to volunteer. A stranger wouldn’t understand this, but this closing of the circle is very important and significant. Now we will start picking up the pieces. We will mourn her, which we haven’t done to this day.”

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum in Israel released a statement from Inbar’s family which said:

“Our beloved Inbar has returned home. To her parents, to her brother, to us. It is a feeling that cannot be described at all, joy mixed with great sorrow. Now Inbar will receive the rest and honour she so greatly deserves. We are certain that if Inbar were here today, she would have urged us to continue fighting for all 19 of her brothers and sisters who remain in captivity. Our Inbar, the salt of the earth, served as a commander for 3 years in Caracal. We salute you and ask the entire public to come and salute you. Heroine of Israel.”

Hamas still holds the bodies of 19 hostages and the Hostages’ Families Headquarters is demanding the Israeli government immediately halt the implementation of further stages of the peace agreement as long as the terror group “continues to blatantly violate its part in returning all the hostages, including the fallen.”