The Israeli military confirmed on Wednesday that Sahar Baruch, an Israeli hostage kidnapped in a Hamas attack on October 7, was killed during a rescue operation in Gaza in December.

“We have informed the Baruch family that their son Sahar, who was a hostage in Gaza, was killed during a rescue operation carried out by special forces on the night of December 8,” the army said in a statement, according to AFP and Agerpres.

“At this stage, we cannot determine the circumstances of his death, as well as whether he was killed by fire from our forces or by Hamas,” the army added.

On December 9, Hamas announced the death of this hostage during an army attempt to rescue him and released a video showing his body.

The Association of Hostage Relatives and Survivors of Kibbutz Beeri, where the 25-year-old lived, confirmed his death.

His brother Idan was killed in a Hamas attack on October 7, while his parents and two other brothers escaped the kibbutz massacre that killed at least 85 people.

The Hamas attack caused a total of approximately 1,140 deaths in Israel, most of them civilians, according to AFP figures based on official Israeli figures. Then Hamas special forces took about 250 hostages, 129 of whom are still being held in Gaza.

According to the latest figures from the Hamas government, the war, which has been going on for almost three months, has killed 22,313 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women, teenagers and children.

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