[ad_1]
The bodies of three more hostages who were killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks were recovered in an overnight operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said Friday.
Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez were killed on Oct. 7 at the Mefalsim Intersection and their bodies were taken into Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement Friday morning, citing intelligence.
Their bodies were recovered in the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza in a joint overnight operation between the IDF and Israel Security Agency that saw “intense combat” carried out in the area, the military said.
The families of the three men were notified of the discovery of their bodies on Friday after they were formally identified by medical officials at the Israeli National Forensic Institute, the IDF said.
Around 1,200 people were killed and some 250 others were taken hostage into Gaza in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, according to Israeli officials. Around 125 people remain held captive in Gaza, with at least around a third of them believed to be dead.
More than 35,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian enclave’s health ministry, in the months since Israel launched its offensive following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, which marked a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and his wife were mourning the deaths of the three returned men as he praised Israeli forces for acting “with great courage in the heart of enemy territory, in order to return them to their families and to the grave of Israel.”
“We have a national and moral duty to do everything we can to return our abducted — the lives and the spaces — and that is what we are doing,” he said.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the families of hostages held in Gaza, said Friday that the “sorrowful return of Michel, Hanan, and Oryon is another heartbreak for the 125 families of the hostages, who share the pain, sorrow, and endless worry.”
While it said the return of their bodies provided closure for the families, the forum said it was also a reminder of the Israeli government’s need to “immediately dispatch negotiation teams” in order to strike a cease-fire deal that would see the return of the remaining hostages held in Gaza and an end to fighting in the enclave.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Paul Goldman contributed.
