Bodies of six hostages held in Gaza recovered: Israel

The military said in a statement that its forces recovered the bodies in an overnight operation in southern Gaza.

It identified the hostages as Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Haim Perry, without saying when or how they died, the Associated Press reports.

Five of the hostages were over 50 years old when they were captured, and three had family members who were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the recovery effort and stated “our hearts ache for the terrible loss.”

“The State of Israel will continue to make every effort to return all of our hostages — both alive and dead,” he added in a statement.

The war began when Hamas-led fighters stormed across the border on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people, and abducting 250 to Gaza. More than 100 were released in a November ceasefire. About 110 are believed to be in Gaza, though Israeli authorities believe around a third are dead.

Gaza’s health ministry announced more than 40,100 Palestinians had been killed in the war. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble and tens of thousands more have been injured.

The vast majority of Gaza’s population has been displaced, often multiple times, and about 85% of the territory has been put under evacuation orders by the Israeli military, according to the UN.

Mediators have spent months pursuing a three-phase plan in which Hamas would release the hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from the blockaded strip and the release of Palestinians prisoners from Israeli jails.