Shoham was one of dozens of hostages released from Gaza in February as part of a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel that has since been broken. His wife, two children and three other family members were also kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, and were freed a month later.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Whether the threat was abusive Hamas guards, hunger, illness or Israeli strikes, there were moments during Tal Shoham’s 505 days of captivity in Gaza when he didn’t think he’d be alive the next morning.

Israel's president said at a Holocaust remembrance ceremony on Thursday that the return of hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza was a "universal moral imperative" and called on the international community to help end "this horrific humanitarian crime".

France, Germany and Britain meanwhile said Israel's seven-week blockade on all imports to Gaza was "intolerable."

An Israeli air strike on a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza killed 10 people on Wednesday, an attack that Israel said targeted militants operating from within the complex. Since a January ceasefire collapsed on March 18,