ALBAWABA - Three Gaza Strip hostages' corpses allegedly found by the Israeli army on Friday. The recovery operation has led other hostage families to urge the government to begin talks for their loved ones' safe release.
According to Aljazeera, The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) identified the victims as Israelis Hanan Yeflonka and Michel Nissenbaum and Mexican tourist Oren Hernandez. No details were provided about their deaths.
The Shin Bet and special Yahalom Unit allegedly found the bodies in Jabalia, northern Gaza, yesterday night. The IOF stressed that it maintains military and intelligence efforts to retrieve all abducted people.
The trio was apprehended on October 7th during an assault in the Gaza border region. The forensic institution performed autopsies on their corpses, and they have informed their families that they are recovering.
In the past, Israel has said that it has recovered the remains of inmates who were murdered in early phases of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, which was sparked by Palestinian resistance in October, or by bombs in Gaza.
The relief of the relatives of the 125 Israeli hostages still detained in the enclave was compounded by their description of the body retrieval as a "sad return" by the families of the Israeli detainees in Gaza. In a statement, they emphasized how Israel must send a negotiating team in order to achieve the captives' release, according to Aljazeera.
Leader of the opposition Yair Lapid urged the government to take all necessary steps to rescue the abducted individuals from Gaza, stating that the likelihood of their return is becoming less by the day.
According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the government must free all prisoners—dead or alive—because it is a moral and patriotic duty. Bezalel Smotrich, the minister of finance, reaffirmed that Israel would keep up its efforts until it achieves its objectives of vanquishing Hamas, reestablishing security, and freeing the detainees.
