Israel confirms return of Tanzanian Hostage Joshua Mollel

The body of Tanzanian student Joshua Luito Mollel was formally identified on Thursday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced.

Mollel, 21, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack.

“The Government of Israel shares in the deep sorrow of the Mollel family and all the families of the fallen hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said.

Mollel, the oldest of five children, had arrived in Israel in September 2023 to participate in an agricultural training program organized by the Foreign Ministry. He had completed a diploma in agricultural studies in Morogoro, eastern Tanzania, and came to Israel to gain practical experience at the Kibbutz Nahal Oz dairy farm.

He hoped to open his own agricultural business.

Thirteen students from Africa and Asia participating in the same program were killed during the October 7 attack, while four others were wounded. Fellow Nepalese student Bipin Joshi was taken hostage and killed in captivity.

Around 1,200 people were killed and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken captive by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. The bodies of four Israelis and one foreign national are still held in Gaza.