Israeli Ambassador mourns the death of a Portuguese hostage

The Israeli Ambassador in Lisbon expressed regret over the death of the Israeli hostage of Portuguese nationality Dror Or, which occurred as a result of the Hamas attacks on October 7, but which was announced this Friday, and demanded the return of the 133 abductees still in the Gaza Strip.

“I regret the death of Dror Or, a Portuguese citizen who was kidnapped in Gaza. Yesterday [quinta-feira] The family was informed that he had already been killed on October 7 and that his body was with Hamas in the Gaza Strip,” Dor Shapira wrote on the social network X.

The Israeli diplomat recalled that Dror’s wife Yonat “was also killed in the attack on October 7, and her children Noam, 17, and Alma, 13, were kidnapped and released in November.” The couple had another son, Yakhli.

“There are 133 hostages in Gaza, and everything must be done to ensure that all those abducted return,” he stressed.

The Israeli government announced this Friday through the X network that “it is now confirmed that Dror Or, kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, has been killed and his body is being held in the Gaza Strip.”

Dror Or, 49, was killed and his body held in the Gaza Strip since October 7, authorities at Kibbutz Be’eri, where he lived and whose residents were among the hardest hit by the outbreak, said in a statement. Attack of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli territory.

The announcement of Dror Or’s death comes as mediator countries Qatar, the United States and Egypt await Hamas’s response to a new truce proposal coupled with the release of hostages.

“Only the release of all hostages – living so they can recover, and dead so they can be buried – will guarantee the rebirth and future of our people,” the Forum of Hostage Families said.

“The Israeli government must do everything in its power to return Dror” and “the other slain hostages so that they can be buried with honor in Israel,” the association added.

The news of the death of a citizen of Portuguese nationality was reported by The Guardian newspaper.

At the end of November, a week-long truce allowed the release of 105 hostages, including 80 Israelis with dual citizenship, who were exchanged for 240 Palestinians detained by Israel.

The war erupted on October 7 when Hamas commandos carried out an attack that killed 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli figures.

More than 250 people were kidnapped and, according to Israel, 133, including the dead, remain in the Gaza Strip.

In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a large-scale offensive in the Gaza Strip that has already killed more than 34,500 people, most of them civilians, according to the Palestinian Movement’s Health Ministry.