The 65-year-old worked in community kindergartens, managing their dining rooms. (File)
The body of 65-year-old Yehudit Weiss was found near the besieged Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza on Friday, Israeli Defence Force said. The Israeli woman who was kidnapped on October 7 during Hamas' surprise attack on Israel, was among the 240 hostages taken by the Palestinian group.
The Israeli army also claimed to have found assault rifles including AK-47s, RPGs, and other military equipment near Weiss' body. Hundreds of Israeli soldiers along with bulldozers lay siege to Al-Shifa hospital on Thursday claiming they had found footage related to the hostages on the facility's computers. Israeli forces have, for long, claimed Hamas has established a base and secret tunnel underneath the hospital, using it to store its ammunitions.
Here's 5 things we know about Yehudit Weiss:
- Yehduit Weiss was abducted from her house near Kinnutz Be'eri in South Israel on October 7. Weiss and her husband, Shmulik Weiss, were hiding in a safe room when Hamas operatives dragged them out, killing her husband and taking her hostage.
- The 65-year-old worked in community kindergartens, managing their dining rooms. She was trained as a nurse.
- Weiss, was a mother to five children, four of whom lived in Israel and survived the Hamas attack.
- Before she was abducted, Weiss was diagnosed with breast cancer and was in desperate need of radiotherapy to manage the disease, said Bring Them Home Now group. She didn't have her medication with her when she was kidnapped.
- According to a post on Facebook by Bring Them Home, Weiss was "a loving full-time grandmother" who enjoyed reading books, travelling with friends, baking cheesecakes and watching plays with her five grandchildren.