Israel retrieves body of Hamas hostage from Gaza

July 24 (UPI) -- Israel has recovered the body of a woman who was taken hostage by Hamas during its bloody and surprise October assault and died while in captivity in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza .

The body of Maya Goren, 56, of the Nir Oz kibbutz, was retrieved Wednesday from the southern Gazan Strip city of Khan Yunis during a military operation led by Shin Bet investigators.

The bodies of three soldiers killed in the attack on Oct. 7, that were stolen into Gaza were also retrieved . Those bodies have been identified as belonging to Staff Sgt. (Res.) Oren Goldin, Staff Sgt. Tomer Ahimas, Sgt. Kiril Brodsky and Sgt. (Res.) Ravid Aryeh Katz.

Later Thursday, the IDF announced that the body of a fourth soldier killed on Oct. 7 had also been retrieved in the operation.

The body of Sgt. (Res.) Ravid Aryeh Katz was recovered with Goren's, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said .

The Israel Defense Forces said the operation was conducted based on intelligence gathered from interrogating terrorists.

"The IDF and Shin Bet continue, even at this time, to deploy all operational and intelligence efforts to accomplish the supreme national mission of returning all the hostages," Hagari said in a statement Thursday.

Maya Goren (56) is the mother of four children and the wife of Avner, who was also murdered on the morning of that dark Saturday. Maya dedicated her life to educating children, her own and others. Her family was her whole world, and if you asked her, she would have said that... pic.twitter.com/9V8RnGfvkH — Bring Them Home Now (@bringhomenow) February 19, 2024

Two-hundred-and-fifty-one Israelis were taken hostage Oct. 7 in the Hamas attack that ignited the ongoing war in Gaza. Some 115 remain in Hamas custody.

Avern Goren, Maya Goren's husband, was killed Oct. 7.

Maya Goren, the kibbutz's kindergarten teacher, had left early that morning to prepare for her pupils when abducted in the attack, according to the Bring Our People Home Foundation . Her husband, Avern Goren, was at home when the attack began, and was initially reported as missing, but was confirmed dead 10 days later, the foundation said.

The IDF confirmed that Maya Goren was dead on Dec. 1.

Goren's kibbutz confirmed in a statement that her body was returned to Israel on Wednesday night.

Her son, Gal Goren, said his mother has been laid to rest.

"Your personal abandonment has finally ended, and you have earned eternal rest beside your beloved, beside father, who was also abandoned and murdered on the same day," he said.

Gal Goren said he was "grateful" to the security forces who brought his mother's body home.

"Even now, we call for the immediate return of the kidnapped -- those alive for rehabilitation and those murdered for burial," he said. "They all deserve this closure, and their abandonment must end. We will not stop fighting for the return of everyone."

The development came days after the IDF confirmed the deaths of two Hamas hostages in Gaza.

Alex Dancyg and Yagev Buchshtab were abducted into Gaza on Oct. 7 and the IDF said Monday that the terrorist organization was in possession of their bodies.