Ayelet Godard was one of the victims of the October 7, 2023 attack, and her husband Meny Godard, 73, was transferred from Kibbutz Beli to the Gaza Strip and later handed over to Palestinian forces, according to Israel’s National Center for Forensic Medicine. Media reporting the news detailed that forensic tests carried out in Israel confirmed that the body corresponds to Meni Godard, who was killed along with his wife by members of Islamic Jihad during a large-scale attack on the population of southern Israel. Israel continues to demand the return of all deceased hostages from Hamas and other groups, as calls for the repatriation of bodies continue.
According to media reporting on the incident, the body of Many Godard, who had been in the Gaza Strip since the attack, was handed over by Palestinian militias this Thursday. In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office reaffirmed the Israeli government’s intention to guarantee the return and domestic burial of all its murdered citizens, and expressed its condolences to the Godard family and the remaining hostages who died. According to reports, the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, reached on October 10, contemplated the repatriation of living abductees and the bodies of those who died in detention in Gaza.
According to Israeli authorities, an attack carried out by armed special forces on October 7 left around 1,200 people dead and 250 kidnapped. In a deal later reached, Palestinian militias agreed to hand over the bodies of 28 dead hostages. To date, three more bodies have yet to be released, according to media reports. As part of the terms of the agreement, Israel proceeded with the release of approximately 2,000 imprisoned Palestinians and the return of 315 bodies within the framework of an exchange scheduled after the ceasefire.
According to various reports, tensions between the parties over compliance with the ceasefire continue, with mutual accusations of violations of the agreement continuing. One of the main reasons for the disagreement lies in the closure of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which has increasingly impeded the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, affecting Gaza residents.
In parallel, it triggered Israeli military attacks on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 69,180 people and injured more than 170,700 since the start of the clashes, according to data provided by the Hamas-controlled Gaza authorities. According to media outlets publishing the information, these numbers continue to rise as bodies are constantly being discovered in areas where Israeli forces have ceased operations and withdrew, a phenomenon that increases concerns about the scale of the human impact left by the conflict.
The dynamics of the release and repatriation of bodies remains one of the focal points of diplomatic negotiations between Israel and Palestinian factions. The procedure includes both the return of deceased hostages and the return of Palestinian prisoners and bodies by the Israeli government, as confirmed by various authorities through the media that disseminated the news.
In a message broadcast publicly and picked up by the press, the Israeli government stressed: “We will not make any concessions on this point and will spare no effort until we achieve the return of all the dead hostages, down to the last one.” The incident, in which Meni Godard’s identification and surrender was officially confirmed by the Prime Minister’s Office this Thursday, became emblematic of the complexity of the negotiations and the humanitarian drama the region is experiencing following the armed conflict. The return of Godard’s body has motivated reinvigorated claims about the terms of the agreement and demands for its full compliance, while the families of the disappeared insist on full respect for the commitments made by both parties to the conflict.
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