ROME (Reuters) – Eviatar Moshe Kipnis, an Italian-Israeli who had been missing since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Islamist group Hamas has been confirmed dead, the Italian foreign minister said on Tuesday.
“I am close to his family, especially his two sons whom I met during my trip to Tel Aviv,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wrote on social media X.
An Italian foreign ministry statement said Kipnis went missing following the attack on Kibbutz Be’eri, an agricultural kibbutz 3 miles (5 km) from Gaza, which was one of the first hit by Hamas.
It said the DNA test that confirmed the 65-year-old’s death was carried out by Israeli authorities.
“The Italian embassy in Tel Aviv is in contact with the family to assure them of any possible assistance at this difficult time,” the ministry said.
The statement added that two Italian-Israeli citizens were still unaccounted for, and that the Italian government was fully committed to tracking them down.
(Reporting by Angelo Amante, editing by Alvise Armellini)
