By Said Amouri
JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army claimed Thursday that it demolished two tunnels in the Jabaliya area in the northern Gaza Strip and recovered the bodies of seven Israeli hostages who were held by Palestinian factions in the enclave.
The army posted a video on X that claimed to show the demolition operation.
On May 17, 18 and 24 the army reported that it recovered the bodies of seven soldiers that it claimed had been held in Gaza since Oct. 7.
Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, captured around 239 individuals, according to Israeli media estimates, during a surprise attack launched on military sites and settlements adjacent to Gaza on that day.
Israel reported that 121 of the captives remain in Gaza, while Hamas said on May 26 that it had captured additional soldiers during an operation in Gaza, without disclosing a specific number. Israel has denied the claim.
Through the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the US, Hamas and Israel have been engaged in stalled indirect negotiations for months to reach an agreement to swap hostages and end the war against Gaza that erupted in early October.
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza following the Hamas attack, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
More than 36,240 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and over 81,777 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Nearly eight months into the Israeli onslaught, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel is accused of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio