JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said Tuesday that it recovered the bodies of six hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that started the war in Gaza.
The recovery came as the United States, Egypt and Qatar are trying to mediate a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas that would see the release of scores of hostages held by the militant group.
The military said in a statement that its forces recovered the bodies in an overnight operation in southern Gaza. It identified the hostages as Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Haim Perry, without saying when or how they died.
Five of the hostages were over 50 years old when they were captured, and three had family members who were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the recovery effort and said “our hearts ache for the terrible loss.”
“The State of Israel will continue to make every effort to return all of our hostages — both alive and dead,” he said in a statement.
Hamas is still believed to be holding around 110 hostages captured in the Oct. 7 attack. Israeli authorities estimate around a third of them are dead.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on his ninth visit to the region since the start of the war, said Monday that Netanyahu has accepted a proposal to bridge gaps in the cease-fire talks and called on Hamas to do the same.
Hamas has accused the United States of embracing Israeli demands and trying to impose them on the militant group.
Hamas-led militants burst through Israel’s defense on Oct. 7 and rampaged across the south, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage. Over 100 hostages were released in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel during a weeklong cease-fire last year.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants. Air and ground operations have caused widespread destruction and forced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents to flee their homes.
The mediators have been trying to finalize a proposal for a three-phase process in which Hamas would release all the hostages in return for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, an Israeli withdrawal from the territory and a lasting truce. But there still appear to be wide gaps between the two sides.
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