IMAJ | volume 26
Journal 10, November 2024
pages: 603-607
1 Israel National Center for Forensic Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel
2 Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel
3 Department of Medicine C, Wolfson Medical Center, Holon, Israel
4 Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
5 Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel
Summary
Background:
The massive terrorist attack on a mixed population of civilians, soldiers, and foreigners on October 7, 2023, resulted in 1200 casualties and led to many major personal identification issues. At the Israel National Center for Forensic Medicine (INCFM), addressing the mass casualty incidents required precision that included technical, ethical, and humanitarian dimensions. Many obstacles arose that were attributable to the vast number and diversity of victims and the heavy workload in the setting of a small forensic team.
Objectives:
To define the various methods utilized for victim identification.
Methods:
The different types of identification were visual, primary, and circumstantial. Primary methods compared unique and stable characters of the human body, including fingerprints, comparisons of dental data, X-rays, and medical databases. We implemented other methods (anthropology, genetics) and novel creative strategies (digital photography taken by random individuals using mobile phones) and computed tomography (CT) scan at another designated site other than at the INCFM.
Results:
Often, visual recognition and extraction of DNA were impossible because of burnt human remains. Hence, a comparison method of antemortem and postmortem CT findings became imperative for many unidentified victims. The more complex cases included the finding of body parts of more than one individual in different body bags (comingled remains). In such situations, we matched the body parts by utilizing DNA methods. We present seven case challenges.
Conclusions:
We utilized various known and novel methods for victim identification in the aftermath of the events of 7 October 2023 while addressing ethical issues in a case series.