Remains of three hostages recovered, GHF admits Gazans 'desperately' need more aid

SBS Australia

4 hours ago

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) says it has recovered the remains of three hostages held in the Gaza Strip. It identified them as Yonatan Samerano, 21; Ofra Keidar, 70; and Shay Levinson, 19. Kobi Samerano said in a Facebook post that his son's remains were returned on what would have been Yonatan's 23rd birthday. "The campaign to return the hostages continues consistently and is happening alongside the campaign against Iran," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the October 7 attack. More than half the hostages have been returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals, eight have been rescued alive and Israeli forces have recovered dozens of bodies.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 55,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's air and ground war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. More than half of the Palestinian victims are children and women, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Meanwhile, the US and Israeli-backed aid organisation brought in to distribute food rations in Gaza last month said on Saturday that people in the Palestinian territory "desperately need more aid". The admission by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) that it has been unable to meet demand came after severe criticism from other aid groups and near-daily deadly shootings near distribution points. Gaza's civil defence agency said Saturday that Israeli troops had killed at least 17 people, including eight who were seeking food in the territory, which is suffering from famine-like conditions due to Israeli restrictions, according to aid groups. In a statement on Saturday, GHF interim executive director John Acree said that the organisation was "delivering aid at scale, securely and effectively ... But we cannot meet the full scale of need while large parts of Gaza remain closed."
He said the GHF was "working with the government of Israel to honour its commitment and open additional sites in northern Gaza". "The people of Gaza desperately need more aid and we are ready to partner with other humanitarian groups to expand our reach to those who need help the most," Acree said. GHF's operations have been slammed as a "failure" by the United Nations, while other aid groups have raised concerns about the group's opaque structure and neutrality in the conflict that has been raging since October 2023. According to figures issued Saturday by the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 450 people have been killed and nearly 3,500 injured by Israeli fire since GHF began distributing meal boxes in late May. GHF has denied responsibility for deaths near its aid points, contradicting statements from witnesses and Gaza rescue services. It has said deaths have occurred near UN food convoys.