Israeli soldiers have recovered the bodies of two deceased hostages from the Gaza Strip. Of the 251 people kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023, 56 are still being held. Israel believes that at least 20 of them are still alive.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that it concerns an Israeli-American man (72) and woman (70), who were married. The woman also had Canadian nationality.
According to Netanyahu, the couple was killed in the Hamas attack. They were reportedly shot when Hamas attacked the kibbutz Nir Oz. The attack in October 2023 resulted in a total of about twelve hundred deaths. It is unclear how many killed Israelis Hamas took with them.
The bodies were found in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on the night of Wednesday to Thursday. The couple is currently being transported back to Israel.
The retrieval of the hostages is one of the most important topics of the negotiations between Israel and Hamas about a ceasefire. Last month, Hamas released an American-Israeli hostage, hoping that a ceasefire would come closer.
Netanyahu has said several times that getting the hostages back is Israel’s most important goal. But that has not prevented Israel from continuing to carry out attacks on Gaza.