Slain Israeli hostage Idan Shtivi laid to rest, days after remains recovered from Gaza

Mourners carry the coffin of slain hostage Idan Shtivi, whose body was recovered in an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, during his funeral in Kfar Maas, Israel, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Bodies of two hostages recovered form Gaza

The 28-year-old Israeli youth was abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, and later killed in Gaza. His remains were recovered on Friday along with the body of 57-year-old Ilan Weiss, who was also killed by Hamas militants during the shocking terror attack.

Family shattered

While Weiss was identified, the Shtivi was confirmed as the second victim on Saturday. The recovery of Shtivi’s body came as a shock to the family, including his father Eli Shtivi, mother Danit, and two siblings, who were hoping for a miracle to happen.

“It’s hard to process, but now there is certainty,” Eli Shtivi told Army Radio on Saturday.

“Until yesterday, I hoped something else would happen. I didn’t accept that he was murdered – I chose the sanest thing one can choose in such uncertainty, to choose and believe in the good.”

Fate of remaining hostages

Hamas militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack and took 251 people hostage, the majority of whom have been released as part of the ceasefire negotiations.

Dalit Shtivi, center, mourns over the coffin of her son, slain hostage Idan Shtivi, whose body was recovered in an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, during his funeral in Kfar Maas, Israel, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

With the recovery of the two bodies on Friday, the number of hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza has been reduced to 48. According to the IDF, only around 20 of the remaining hostages are alive.

Israel continues air strike on Gaza

Meanwhile, Israel launched strikes across the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 31 people as it presses ahead with a major offensive in the territory’s largest city. Airstrikes and artillery shelling have echoed through Gaza City since Israel declared it a combat zone last week.

Hospitals in Gaza said at least 31 people were killed by Israeli fire on Monday, more than half of them women and children. At least 13 people were killed in Gaza City, where Israel has carried out several previous large-scale raids.

A total of 63,557 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which says another 160,660 people have been wounded. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up around half the dead.

Israel says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militant group — now largely reduced to a guerrilla organization — operates in densely populated areas.