The Israeli military says it has recovered the bodies of five Israelis taken back to Gaza as hostages during Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October.
The bodies of kindergarten teacher Maya Goren as well as the soldiers Sergeant Major Ravid Aryeh Katz, Master Sergeant Oren Goldin, Staff Sergeant Tomer Ahimas and Sergeant Kiril Brodski were found in a Hamas tunnel in the southern city of Khan Younis on Wednesday.
The military said the tunnel was underneath an area it had previously designated as a humanitarian zone.
It also said it had determined that Ms Goren was murdered in captivity, while the soldiers were killed in combat on 7 October and their bodies then abducted.
The announcement means 111 of the 251 people taken hostage are still being held in Gaza, including 39 who the military says are presumed dead.
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred frequently to the fate of the remaining hostages in his address to the US Congress, but he gave no clue as to whether a deal with Hamas to secure their release in return for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange was close.
“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 Sgt Katz, Sgt Ahimas and Sgt Brodski, during an operation in the Khan Younis area.
“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.
On Thursday afternoon, the IDF revealed that the hostages’ bodies had been held underneath an area that it had previously designated as a humanitarian zone for Palestinian civilians.
“The forces located an underground tunnel shaft, leading to a tunnel approximately 200m in length and 20m deep with several rooms where the hostages were located,” it said.
“This is a further example of how Hamas cynically exploited the humanitarian area and used it to hold captive Israelis killed and abducted on 7 October.”
On Monday, the IDF ordered the evacuation of eastern neighbourhoods of Khan Younis, saying there had been “significant terrorist activity and rocket fire” from them, and told residents to head to the “adjusted” al-Mawasi humanitarian area.
The UN estimated that more than 150,000 people had fled the Khan Younis area by Tuesday evening, while the Hamas-run health ministry said more than 80 people had been killed in Israeli air and artillery strikes. At least another six people were reportedly killed on Wednesday.
The IDF said its troops were continuing operations against “terrorist infrastructure and operatives” in Khan Younis on Thursday and claimed that they had killed dozens of Palestinian fighters over the past few days.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum praised the recovery of the hostages' bodies as a “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 said the negotiators would depart on Thursday, following what it called an in-depth discussion with Mr Netanyahu over the weekend. But on Wednesday, Israeli officials said the team would head to Doha only after Mr Netanyahu had met US President Joe Biden at the White House.
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
More than 39,170 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
