International Forensic Conference Opens in Jerusalem Three Years After October 7
An international forensic conference opened in Jerusalem on Tuesday, marking three years since the October 7 attacks. Experts and families shared unprecedented identification challenges and forensic findings.
Three years after the October 7 attacks, an international conference on forensic medicine and criminal identification opened on Tuesday at the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem. Led by the Hadassah Medical Center in cooperation with the museum, the event brought together bodies that participated in victim identification alongside experts from Israel and worldwide.
Forensic Evidence from the Massacre
Eyal Eshel, the father of observation soldier Roni Eshel who was murdered at the Nahal Oz base, called for exposing the forensic findings of the massacre to the world. As the father of a brave soldier who burned to death, Eshel urged public diplomacy officials to share the autopsy reports globally.
"As the father of Roni... I call from this podium to anyone dealing with Israel's public diplomacy... take the difficult autopsy reports and pass them on to the rest of the world so they understand what happened here," Eshel said.
Challenges in Identification
Prof. Chen Kugel, director of the National Center of Forensic Medicine, described how the identification effort began without a closed list of missing persons. Kugel compared the effort to the 9/11 attacks in the United States, noting that out of roughly 2,750 victims at the Twin Towers, only about 1,800 have been identified over 25 years.
He added that a special team examined 44 cases of hostages taken to Gaza whose fates were unknown. Through security camera footage and forensic analysis, the team determined that all 44 were murdered, even though their bodies were not in Israel's possession, establishing an innovative procedure for determining death in the absence of a body.
Systematic Destruction
Dr. Nurit Bublil described dealing with DNA samples exposed to heat exceeding 800 degrees Celsius, noting that findings pointed to planned and systematic actions. Dr. Naama Samet-Rubinstein detailed the difficulty of identifying burned remains where teeth were charred, requiring advanced CT imaging at the Shura camp.
