Israel says it recovered bodies of 6 hostages in Gaza

Israel said Tuesday that its forces recovered the remains of six hostages from southern Gaza, a recovery operation that comes amid high-stakes negotiations to reach a deal with Palestinian militant group Hamas to free the remaining people held in the territory.

Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Haim Perry were all recovered from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, the Israeli military said in a post on the social platform X.

“We will continue to operate in order to return all of the remaining hostages back home,” Israel said, adding that the recovery operation was carried out with precise intelligence.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent his condolences to the families of the loved ones.

“Our hearts ache for the terrible loss,” he wrote on X. “The State of Israel will continue to make every effort to return all of our abductees – both alive and dead.

While some of the six recovered hostages had been believed dead, not all of them were, underscoring that time is running out to get remaining hostages out of Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in the Middle East this week to try to push a deal over the finish line, said negotiations this week may be the last chance to secure a deal, in part because of the risk of more hostages dying.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group represented by the families and friends of the hostages, said in a statement that the recovery of the remains “crucially provides their families with necessary closure and grants eternal rest to the murdered.”

“Israel has a moral and ethical obligation to return all the murdered for dignified burial and to bring all living hostages home for rehabilitation,” the group wrote on X.

A cease-fire and release deal would free the 109 remaining hostages held by Hamas in return for a temporary cease-fire in Gaza, where more than 40,000 people have been killed in 10 months of war, according to reports from local health authorities.

Blinken said Monday that Israel had accepted the latest proposal, but Hamas had issued a statement saying it was against the new agreements. Talks are slated to continue this week in Cairo.

Munder, 79, was a factory worker who was kidnapped when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, the incursion that left about 1,200 people dead in southern Israel and sparked the war in the region. He was taken along with his wife, daughter and grandson, who were all released as part of a November truce and prisoner exchange. His son was killed in the initial strike.

Perry, 79, was a father of five and a grandfather of thirteen who sacrificed himself on Oct. 7 by going with Hamas captors in order to save his wife, who was hiding at the time.

Dancyg, 75, was a Holocaust scholar who was confirmed dead in July.

Buchshtab, 34, from Kibbutz Nirim, had a wide range of interests, including music.

Metzger, 80, and Popplewell, 51, were both previously announced dead in June by Israel.