Israel recovers bodies of two hostages from Gaza
JERUSALEM - Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the bodies of two hostages had been recovered from Gaza by the military and the domestic intelligence agency, the Shin Bet.
Netanyahu said in a statement that the body of hostage Yair Yaakov had been retrieved, along with that of another hostage whose identity has not been cleared for publication.
The Israeli military said militants from the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad abducted and killed Yaakov during the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.
Militants also took Yaakov's partner, Meirav Tal, and two of his children, Or and Yagil, hostage but later released them, the military said. Yaakov was 59 at the time of his death.
The military said it notified the family of the second hostage whose body it recovered, adding that it retrieved the bodies in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza.
There are 53 hostages still being held in Gaza, with fewer than half believed to be alive.
The latest recovery brings to five the number of hostage bodies retrieved by Israeli forces so far this month.
Hamas and other militants from Gaza abducted 251 people during the 2023 attack in which about 1,200 people in Israel were killed.
Israel's retaliatory war against Hamas in Gaza has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. REUTERS
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