The Israeli military says it has recovered the bodies of five Israelis who were returned to Gaza as hostages when Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7.
The bodies of kindergarten teacher Maya Goren and soldiers Major Ravid Aryeh Katz, Master Sergeant Oren Goldin, Staff Sergeant Tomer Ahimas and Sergeant Kiril Brodski were found during an operation in Khan Younis area.
The soldiers said they found out that Ms. Goren was killed while in custody, while the soldiers were killed in battle on October 7 and their bodies were captured.
The announcement states that 111 of the 251 hostages are still being held in Gaza, including 39 soldiers who are presumed dead.
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke repeatedly about the fate of the hostages in his speech to the US Congress, but did not give a clue whether an agreement with Hamas to secure their release in order to end the fighting and the exchange of prisoners is imminent. .
“As we speak, we are busy with efforts to secure their release,” he said.
His failure to give more hope to the families and friends of the missing went unnoticed.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid called the speech a “scam”, adding that Mr Netanyahu “spoke for an hour without saying: ‘There will be a hostage deal.’
Relatives of the hostages who watched the speech on screens set up in what is known as Hostages Square in central Tel Aviv also reacted with anger and disappointment.
Talya Dancyg, the granddaughter of Alex Dancyg, whose death in custody was confirmed on Monday, cried: “My grandfather may still be alive with us, he was waiting for someone to save him. He was waiting, he was waiting for you to seal the deal!”
“Do you realize that you are now complicit in murder?” shouted Nissan Kalderon, Ofer Kalderon’s brother.
“You are killing our families, abandon your political ambitions.”
Soon after, the kibbutzim of Nir Oz and Nir Yitzhak announced in separate statements that they had been notified of the discovery of the bodies of Ms Goren and Sgt Goldin.
On Thursday, a joint statement by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency, also known as the Shin Bet, confirmed that the commandos found their bodies, along with those of Maj Katz, Sgt Ahimas and Sgt Brodski, during the operation. in Khan Younis area, south of Gaza, on Wednesday.
“The IDF and the ISA will continue to work, using all tactical and operational means to accomplish the great task of rescuing all the hostages,” it added.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum praised what it called “an important and decisive military step that provides the families of those killed with important closure and eternal rest”.
“It is Israel’s duty to return all those who were killed for a dignified burial and all the living who were captured for rehabilitation. The immediate return of the remaining 115 hostages can only be achieved through an agreement!” said, including among their number four other Israelis captured before October 7.
The forum called on Mr Netanyahu to send an Israeli negotiating team to Qatar “without delay”.
The Israeli prime minister’s office said the negotiators would leave on Thursday, following what it called an in-depth discussion with Mr Netanyahu over the weekend. But on Wednesday, Israeli officials said the delegation would head to Doha only after Mr Netanyahu meets US President Joe Biden at the White House.
The IDF also said on Thursday that its forces were continuing an operation against “terrorist infrastructure and operatives” in Khan Younis and said they had killed dozens of Palestinian fighters in the past few days.
On Wednesday, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that four people were killed in an Israeli air strike that hit a vehicle in Jourat al-Loot, south of Khan Younis. Doctors told Reuters news agency that two more people were killed in the strike in Bani Suhaila, an eastern town where Hamas said it was targeting Israeli forces.
The UN estimates that more than 150,000 people have been displaced from Khan Younis since Monday, when Israel ordered the evacuation of areas in the east that were part of a “humanitarian zone”.
Source link
