Israel retrieved the bodies of six hostages from the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza overnight, according to statements from the military and the prime minister's office on Tuesday.
A combination picture shows undated handout images of Israeli hostages Alex Dancyg, Yoram Metzger, Yagev Buchshtab, Chaim Peri and Abraham Munder and hostage Nadav Popplewell, who were kidnapped in the deadly October 7 attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. Courtesy of Bring Them Home Now/The Hostages Families Forum/Handout via Reuters
Israel retrieved the bodies of six hostages from the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza overnight, according to statements from the military and the prime minister's office on Tuesday.
The families of Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, and Chaim Perry have been informed, the statements added.
The Hostages Families Forum, an organisation that represents most hostage families, welcomed the news but renewed its call on the government to conclude a hostage release deal with the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group Hamas.
"The immediate return of the remaining 109 hostages can only be achieved through a negotiated deal. The Israeli government, with the assistance of mediators, must do everything in its power to finalise the deal currently on the table," it said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the Middle East this week trying to secure a ceasefire and hostage return agreement between Israel and Hamas.
The current war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israeli communities, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's military has since levelled swathes of the Palestinian enclave, driving nearly all of its 2.3 million people from their homes, giving rise to deadly hunger and disease and killing at least 40,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Reporting by Maytaal Angel; Editing by Alex Richardson
U.N. human rights experts criticised mostly Western states on Monday for continuing to support Israel despite what they described as a genocide in Gaza which might turn Israel into a "pariah" nation.
Reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was considering firing Defence Minister Yoav Gallant shook the political landscape and sent Israeli financial markets lower on Monday.
Polio vaccination coverage in Gaza has reached 90%, the head of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency said on Monday, adding that the next step was to ensure hundreds of thousands of children got a second dose at the end of the month.
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