Bodies of 6 Israeli hostages recovered from southern Gaza Strip: Army

By Anadolu staff

The Israeli army announced on Sunday that the bodies of six individuals who were taken hostage on Oct. 7 were found and recovered late Saturday from Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip.

The army identified the deceased as Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Master Sergeant Ori Danino.

In a separate development, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum directly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, holding him accountable for the deaths of the six hostages.

“If it weren’t for the saboteurs, the excuses, and the spin, the hostages whose deaths we learned of this morning would probably be alive,” the forum said in a statement on X. The statement continued, “Netanyahu: enough of the excuses. Enough of the spin. Enough of the abandonment. The time has come to bring our hostages home — those living for rehabilitation and the fallen and murdered for burial in their land.”

For months, diplomatic efforts led by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt have aimed to broker an agreement between Israel and Hamas to facilitate a prisoner exchange and establish a cease-fire. These efforts have also sought to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. However, negotiations have stalled, largely due to Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the ongoing military campaign.

Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip, which intensified following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, has continued despite a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire. The conflict has resulted in nearly 40,700 Palestinian deaths, with the majority being women and children, and over 94,000 injuries, according to local health authorities.

The ongoing blockade of Gaza has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis, leading to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, and leaving much of the region in devastation.

Israel is currently facing genocide accusations at the International Court of Justice, which has issued an order to halt military operations in Rafah, where over one million Palestinians had sought refuge before the city was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi