The body of Dolev Yehud, 35, was found and identified in Kibbutz Nir Oz, the IDF confirmed Monday morning.
Yehud, who worked as a medic, was killed on October 7 after leaving his home to save lives during the Hamas massacre.
He served as a medic with United Hatzalah and Magen David Adom.
His remains were identified through scientific analysis in a coordinated effort between the IDF and forensic experts. According to Israeli media reports, after no DNA belonging to Yehud was found during field tests, the commander of the intelligence effort for identifying prisoners of war and missing people had connected skeletal remains to Yehud.
Yehud left behind his beloved wife Sigal and his children: Raz, 8, Yotam, 7, Yaron, 4, and Dor, 8 months, who was born 16 days after Dolev's believed kidnapping. He also left behind his brother Neta, his sister Arbel, and his parents, Yechiel and Yael.
Dolev Yehud's heroism on October 7
Yehud was with his family in their saferoom in Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’s attack and left the room to assist those who were injured. It was believed that Hamas terrorists captured and kidnapped him along with his sister Arbel and her partner Ariel. The two are still believed to be held in captivity in Gaza.
Eli Beer, President and Founder of United Hatzalah, said: "Dolev treated hundreds of people as a volunteer EMT of United Hatzalah. He always acted for the sake of others and provided aid and assistance to all, even to people he did not know."
"The organization's management, directors, branch heads, volunteers, and the entire United Hatzalah family, both here in Israel and around the world, pray for the elevation of his soul. We hope and yearn that Arbel, her partner Ariel, and all the remaining captives will soon return home to us, healthy and whole."
Dani Shmuel, head of the Gaza Periphery Branch at United Hatzalah, reflected on Yehud's commitment in December, saying, "Just before October 7, we awarded Dolev with the Prize of Excellence for his commitment to saving lives. He would respond to calls day and night, at all hours, constantly putting others' needs above his own.
"On October 7, he went out to save lives and did not return," Shmuel said. "When I tried to reach him over the radio on that Shabbat, he didn’t respond. I was confident that it was because he was busy treating the injured."
In December, CEO of United Hatzalah Eli Pollak urged the Red Cross to fulfill its responsibility as a medical organization, stating that, "In addition to the fact that Dolev was kidnapped and your duty is to care for all of the hostages’ welfare, he is also a volunteer medic, and you have a special obligation towards him.”
In February, speaking with Ynet, Yehud's wife Sigal recounted what her family went through on October 7. "We were in the safe room from 6:30 in the morning, without food and without water. I was trying to keep three children quiet and calm and at the same time keep myself under a minimum of pressure so the contractions wouldn't start."
She added, "Dolev wrote to me that morning to be calm, to regulate my breath. And then contact with him was cut off."
She spoke of the birth of her daughter, Dor, stating "the most different thing about the birth of Dor is that Dolev wasn't there." She further said, "He was with me during all the other births, held my hand, reassured, cut the umbilical cord, took the babies in his hands for the first time already in the delivery room. He was an involved father from the first moment."
"What scares me the most is the thought that he won't know his daughter," Sigal said.
In an interview with Channel 12 conducted some six months ago, Yehud's father, spoke of his son's newborn daughter. "Dor, who is two and a half months old, brings some light into our lives. She seems to understand the situation: she is calm, does not cry, smiles, and gives us hope that her father will return and hold her in his arms, and that her aunt will return and hold her in her arms."
This is a developing story.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.