Israeli forces recovered the bodies of five hostages killed during Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and then held in the Gaza Strip, the military said.
The remains of Maya Goren, Oren Goldin, Ravid Aryeh Katz and soldiers Staff Sergeant Tomer Ahimas and Sergeant Kiril Brodski were brought back from the Khan Younis area, the Israel Defense Forces said Thursday.
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The recovery operation was conducted by the Israeli Security Agency and IDF on Wednesday. The military said it was determined that Maya Goren had been murdered, while the others fell in combat. Goldin and Katz were members of security squads that battled Hamas-led fighters in border villages.
The war between Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union, and Israel began when thousands of Hamas operatives broke into Israel from Gaza, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 250. Israel attacked by air, sea and land, and has killed some 39,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Israel says 115 hostages remain in Gaza, with 41 of them declared dead in absentia.