The Israeli military has announced that it has recovered the bodies of five Israelis who were taken to Gaza as hostages during the Hamas attack on 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 in the Khan Younis area.
The military determined that Ms. Goren was murdered while in captivity, and the soldiers were killed in combat on October 7 and subsequently abducted.
This leaves 111 of the 251 people taken hostage still being held in Gaza, with 39 of them presumed dead.
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the US Congress, frequently mentioning the hostages’ fate but did not provide any indications of whether a deal with Hamas for their release in exchange for a ceasefire and prisoner swap was imminent.
“As we speak, we’re actively engaged in intensive efforts to secure their release,” he said.
His failure to give more hope to the families and friends of the missing did not go unnoticed.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid called the speech “a sham”, adding that Mr Netanyahu “spoke for an hour without saying: ‘There will be a hostage deal.’”
Hostages’ relatives who watched the speech on screens set up in what is known as Hostages Square in central Tel Aviv also reacted with anger and dismay.
Talya Dancyg, a granddaughter of Alex Dancyg, whose death in captivity was confirmed on Monday, cried: “My grandfather could still be alive with us, he was waiting for someone to come and save him. He was waiting, he was waiting for you to seal the deal!”
“Do you realise that you are becoming an accomplice to murder?” shouted Nissan Kalderon, brother of hostage Ofer Kalderon.
“You are killing our families, give up your political ambitions.”
Shortly afterwards, the kibbutzim of Nir Oz and Nir Yitzhak announced in separate statements that they had been informed of the recovery of Ms Goren and Sgt Goldin’s bodies.
On Thursday, a joint statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel Security Agency, also known as the Shin Bet, confirmed that commandos had recovered their bodies, along with those of Maj Katz, Sgt Ahimas and Sgt Brodski, during an operation in the Khan Younis area, in southern Gaza, on Wednesday.
“The IDF and ISA will continue to operate, using all intelligence and operational means to fulfil the supreme mission of rescuing all of the hostages,” it added.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum praised what it called the “crucial and decisive military action that provides their families with important closure and eternal rest for the murdered”.
“It is Israel’s duty to return all the murdered for honourable burial and all living hostages for rehabilitation. The immediate return of the remaining 115 hostages can only be achieved through a deal!” it said, including among their number another four Israelis who were abducted before 7 October.
The forum called on Mr Netanyahu to send Israel’s negotiating team to Qatar “without delay”.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office had initially stated that negotiators would leave on Thursday following a detailed discussion with Mr. Netanyahu over the weekend. However, on Wednesday, Israeli officials announced that the team would travel to Doha only after Mr. Netanyahu had met with US President Joe Biden at the White House.
The IDF also reported on Thursday that its troops are continuing operations against “terrorist infrastructure and operatives” in Khan Younis, claiming that they have killed dozens of Palestinian fighters in recent days.
On Wednesday, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that four people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a car in Jourat al-Loot, south of Khan Younis. Medics told Reuters that two additional people were killed in a strike in Bani Suhaila, a town to the east where Hamas claimed to have targeted Israeli forces.
The UN estimates that over 150,000 people have been displaced from Khan Younis since Monday, when Israel ordered the evacuation of eastern neighborhoods designated as a “humanitarian area.”
Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza to dismantle Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 251 hostages taken.
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, more than 39,170 people have been killed in Gaza since then.