Israel says bodies of two hostages retrieved from Gaza
Israeli forces have retrieved the bodies of two hostages from the Gaza Strip, the military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday, as Israel presses its offensive in the Palestinian territory.
A military statement said a joint operation by the army and the Shin Bet security agency recovered the bodies of Yair Yaakov and 'an additional hostage whose name has not yet been cleared for publication' from the Khan Yunis area of southern Gaza.
Yaakov, a member of Kibbutz Nir Oz, was 59 when he was seized in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and killed the same day.
The military statement said he had been abducted and killed by fighters from the terrorist group Islamic Jihad, a Hamas ally.
Yaakov was abducted along with his partner Meirav Tal, as they sheltered in their safe room in Nir Oz.
She was freed on November 28, 2023 during the first truce.
Abducted separately at the home of their mother, Yair's two children Yagil and Or were also released on November 27 during the first truce.
Nir Oz was one of the communities hit hardest by the attack, with nearly a quarter of its residents killed or taken hostage.
Netanyahu also announced the return of two bodies from Gaza, including that of Yaakov.
'Along with all the citizens of Israel, my wife and I extend our deepest condolences to the families who have lost their most precious loved ones,' he said in a statement.
'We will not rest and we will not be silent until all our hostages — the living and the fallen alike — are brought home.'
Before the latest announcement, out of 251 taken hostage during the Hamas attack, 54 were still held in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military said were dead.
Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on October 7, 2023 attacked Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says the retaliatory Israeli military offensive has killed at least 55,104 people, the majority civilians. The UN considers these figures to be reliable.
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