Israeli military recovers five hostages' bodies in Gaza

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 Major Ravid Aryeh Katz, Master Sergeant Oren Goldin, Staff Sergeant Tomer Ahimas and Sergeant Kiril Brodski were found during an operation in the Khan Younis area.

The military 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 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 Maj Katz, Sgt Ahimas and Sgt Brodski, during an operation in the Khan Younis area, in southern Gaza, on Wednesday.

“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.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum praised what it called the “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.

The IDF also said on Thursday that its troops were continuing operations against “terrorist infrastructure and operatives” in Khan Younis and claimed that they had killed dozens of Palestinian fighters over the past few days.

On Wednesday, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that four people had been killed in an Israeli air strike on a car in Jourat al-Loot, south of Khan Younis. Medics told Reuters news agency that another two people had been killed in a strike in Bani Suhaila, a town to the east where Hamas said it had targeted Israeli forces.

The UN estimates that more than 150,000 people have been displaced from Khan Younis since Monday, when Israel ordered the evacuation of eastern neighbourhoods that were part of its designated "humanitarian area".