Israeli troops have found the bodies of three hostages who had been held in the Gaza Strip since the attack of 7 October 2023, according to military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The hostages were identified as the 71-year-old ofra Keidar and 21-year-old Yonatan Samerano-citizens and the 19-year-old soldier Shay Levinson.
All three were killed on the day of the attack, October 7, 2023, the army said.
The army did not give any details about the recovery operation, but said that the bodies were restored on Sunday, local time.
“The campaign to return the hostages, continues consistent and is happening to Iran next to the campaign,” said Mr Netanyahu in a statement.
With the latter picking up, 50 hostages are now in Gaza, of whom only 20 are supposed to live.
Hostage families call for their release
The High -Highness Families Forum, the most important organization that represents families of the hostages, has repeatedly called for a deal to release the remaining prisoners.
“In particular, against the background of current military developments and the important achievements in Iran, we want to emphasize that the remaining 50 hostages are the key to achieve any form of victory,” said it in a statement on Sunday.
Hamas has said that it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a permanent cease -the fires and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Families of the remaining hostages were collected in Tel Aviv. ((Reuters: Violeta Santos Moura))
Mr Netanyahu has rejected those conditions and says that Israel will continue the war until all hostages are returned and Hamas is defeated or disarmed and sent in exile.
According to the Israeli authorities, around 1200 people were killed and 251 hostage during the attack on southern Israel, led by Hamas.
The subsequent Israeli campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed more than 55,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Authorities in the Strip run by Hamas, almost the entire 2.3 million population, the enclave collapsed in humanitarian crisis and left a large part of the territory in ruins.
Reuters/AP
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