The Israeli military has announced that it recovered the bodies of five captives during an operation in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
The army said on Thursday that the bodies of kindergarten teacher Maya Goren as well as soldiers Tomer Ahimas, Kiril Brodski, Ravid Aryeh Katz and Oren Goldin – the latter two reservists – had been returned to Israel.
Goren, 56, was killed in the kibbutz of Nir Oz, one of the communities targeted in the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7, according to Israeli Army Radio.
The others were killed in combat on October 7, the army said. Katz was a member of the Nir Oz kibbutz security team.
The five bodies were retrieved on Wednesday from the area of Khan Younis, where Israeli forces launched new raids this week.
The Gaza Government Media Office said at least 129 Palestinians were killed and hundreds wounded in the previous 48 hours in Khan Younis after Israel launched its latest attack and ordered residents to evacuate. About 150,000 people were forced to flee.
‘Profoundly’ disappointed
In a speech to the United States Congress on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government was actively engaged in intensive efforts to release the remaining captives.
But the families of eight US captives in Gaza said in a joint statement that they were “profoundly” disappointed that Netanyahu had failed to offer guarantees that the captives would be coming home.
Netanyahu has “failed to commit to the hostage deal that is now on the table even though Israel’s senior defence and intelligence officials have called on him to do so”, the families said.
They called on Netanyahu to get the deal done “before it is too late”.
At least 39,145 people have been killed and 90,257 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health. The death toll in Israel from the Hamas-led attacks is estimated at 1,139 with dozens of people still held captive in Gaza.
