Second Hostage’s Body Found Near Gaza Hospital, Israel Claims

The body of a second Israeli hostage was recovered near the largest hospital complex in Gaza, the Israeli military claimed Friday, six weeks after she was abducted by Hamas militants in the Oct. 7 attacks.

Noa Marciano, 19, was confirmed dead by Israeli authorities earlier this week after Hamas released images apparently showing her lifeless body. The group said Marciano, a soldier in Israel’s Combat Intelligence Collection Corps 414th unit, had been killed in an Israeli airstrike.

On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Marciano’s body was extracted by Israeli troops “from a structure adjacent to the Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip and was transferred to Israeli territory.” The military statement added that she was formally identified on Thursday. “The IDF sends its heartfelt condolences to the family and will continue to support them,” the statement added.

News of the discovery of Marciano’s remains comes after the IDF claimed Thursday it had found the body of Yehudit Weiss, a 65-year-old mother of five who had also been taken hostage, similarly in a “structure” adjacent to the hospital.

In a statement on X, the IDF said Marciano had been “abducted and murdered by Hamas terrorists.” The military had also dismissed Hamas’ video Monday—which appeared to show Marciano reading from a script saying she and others were in danger from Israeli bombing close by—as “horrific and evil and clearly psychological warfare.”

Marciano was one of several women taken from the Nahal Oz IDF base when it was stormed by Hamas on Oct. 7. It’s thought around 240 people were taken captive during the attacks in southern Israel, which also left 1,200 people dead.

In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and began a major bombing campaign and ground incursions into Gaza, with violence around the Shifa Hospital becoming a central focus of international concern in recent days amid an Israeli raid at the site. Israel claims Hamas has a command center beneath the hospital, but the militant group has denied the allegation.

Late Thursday, the Israeli military claimed to have found an “operational tunnel shaft” and a vehicle containing weapons at the hospital complex. Human Rights Watch Director Louis Charbonneau said the evidence Israel has released so far is not sufficient to justify stripping the hospital of its protections under international humanitarian law. An IDF spokesperson earlier in the day accused Hamas of working to hide evidence that would expose the group’s use of the hospital as a command center.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday night told CBS News that Israel had “concrete evidence” of the Hamas command center. He also said Israel’s attempts to fight the group in Gaza with “minimal civilian casualties” have been “not successful,” blaming Hamas for hiding behind Palestinian civilians. According to Palestinian health officials, at least 11,470 people have died in Gaza since the fighting erupted six weeks ago.

The death toll is likely to increase. Humanitarian aid deliveries were suspended on Friday owing to a communications blackout and lack of fuel in the enclave. The U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP) says just 10 percent of necessary food supplies are entering Gaza and that almost the entire population is now in urgent need of assistance.

“Supplies of food and water are practically non-existent in Gaza and only a fraction of what is needed is arriving through the borders,” WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said in a statement. “With winter fast approaching, unsafe and overcrowded shelters, and the lack of clean water, civilians are facing the immediate possibility of starvation.”