Facing a sea of chilled shipping containers, each holding 50 bodies, everyone in close range must wear a mask to protect their noses. According to Rabbi Israel Weiss, the smell hits him in the heart.
A report shows that from 2000 to 2006, Weiss served as Israel’s top military rabbi, during which time he was in charge of determining the identities of deceased soldiers and making burial arrangements.
He spoke to the media on Saturday evening at Shura Base near Tel Aviv about the efforts he and his colleagues have been making to identify the hundreds of victims of the Hamas massacre on October 7 and the bodies of the Islamist terrorists who attacked them.
Over 1,300 Israelis, mainly civilians, were murdered by Hamas killing squads in south Israel near the Gaza Strip.
Weiss came out of retirement to assist the Israeli army’s forensics unit in identifying the bodies and preparing them for burial, a task that can be difficult in the face of such atrocities. His group reports hearing accounts of mutilations, including the mutilation of a pregnant woman and her unborn child and the burning alive of several individuals.
The rabbi claims that roughly 90% of the military personnel and 50% of the civilians have been identified thus far.
On Monday, Hamas’s murderers released a video of Mia Shem, a 21-year-old hostage. On October 7th, Hamas assassins kidnapped Shem from the Nova concert in Israel.
Shem claims Hamas operated on her injured arm, sustained in the massacre of Jewish concertgoers, in a propaganda video produced by the group. Mia Shem said that the terrorist group treated her nicely.
In a report shared on the Bring Them Home Now Facebook group, Mia Shem’s mother pleaded for her daughter’s safe return.
The family is appealing to world leaders to secure Mia’s release so that she can receive the immediate medical attention she needs. Mia’s mom said she had no clue whether her daughter was alive or dead until she viewed the video. Although the video provides Mia and her fellow hostages with some cause for optimism, she is still hurt and scared. Mia is only parroting what she has been instructed to say. Her mother begged the world’s leaders to please return her baby to her.
