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עמוד בית
Wed, 13.11.24

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November 2024
Chen Kugel MD, Ricardo P. Nachman MD, Itai Katz MD, Arad Dotan BsC, Gisele Zandman-Goddard MD, Yehuda Shoenfeld MD FRCP MaACR

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.

December 2023
Chen Kugel MD, Dana Arnheim MD, Arad Dotan BSc, Maya Furman MD, Yehuda Shoenfeld MD FRCP MaACR

On 7 October 2023, a large-scale invasion by armed Hamas terrorists occurred in southern Israel. Approximately 1500 militants breached the Gaza security barrier using tractors, RPGs, and explosives. Concurrently, the terrorists utilized various means including armed vehicles, motorized paragliders, sea incursions, and a massive rocket attack launched toward Israel. On entering Israeli territory, the militants dispersed and targeted several towns, kibbutzim (collective communities), and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) military bases near Gaza. This strategy resulted in a death toll exceeded 1300 civilians and soldiers. In addition, more than 240 individuals were abducted. This attack occurred in one day. In this article, we introduce the Israeli National Institute of Forensic Medicine, which specialized in forensic analysis during mass casualty incidents, and pivotal role it played on 7 October. We present a detailed discussion on methods, challenges, and adaptations the institute took in response to the event of 7 October.

July 2009
A. Afek, T. Friedman, C. Kugel, I. Barshack and D.J. Lurie
An autopsy was an important event in 17th century Holland. Autopsies were held in an ‘anatomy theater’ and performed according to a fixed protocol that often took up to 3 days to complete. Of the five group portraits painted by Rembrandt over the course of his career, two were anatomy lessons given by Dr. Tulp and Dr. Deyman. An examination of Rembrandt’s painting of Dr. Tulp’s anatomy lesson (1632) and an X-ray image of the painting, as compared to other paintings of anatomy lessons from the same period, reveal interesting differences, such as positioning, and light and shadow. Not only was the autopsy not performed according to the usual protocol, but in this painting Rembrandt created a unique dramatic scene in his effort to tell a story. We suggest that Dr. Tulp and Rembrandt “modified” the painting of Dr. Tulp's anatomy lesson to emphasize Dr. Tulp's position as the greatest anatomist of his era – 'Vesalius of Amsterdam, and as a way of demonstrating God’s greatness by highlighting the hand as a symbol of the most glorious of God’s creations.
 
June 2002
Gideon D. Charach, MD, Itamar Groskopf, MD, Dan Turner, MD, Michael Y. Barilan, MD, Chen Kugel, MD and Moshe S. Weintraub, MD
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