The Israeli military said on Sunday it had recovered the remains of three hostages held in the Gaza Strip. At least four Palestinians were killed and 22 injured in the Israeli air strikes, according to a local hospital.
The military identified the body as the body of Yonatan Samerano, 21; Ofra Keidar, 70; Shay Levinson, 19, attacked the ongoing war in Israel on October 7, 2023 in Hamas. The militant group still holds 50 hostages, only half of which are considered alive.
The military provided no details about the recovery operation and it is not clear whether the air strikes were related to it.
“The movement to return to the hostages continues and fights side by side in the campaign against Iran,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
Kobi Samerano said in a Facebook post that his son's body was returned on Yonatan's 23rd birthday.
According to the Israeli Soles, militants led by Hamas killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapped 251 people in the October 7 attack. More than half of the hostages have been returned in a ceasefire agreement or other transactions, eight items have been rescued, and dozens of bodies have been recovered by Israeli forces.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, Israel's retaliatory offensive killed more than 55,000 Palestinians, which says women and children account for more than half of the dead.
According to the body being taken to the Al-Awda Hospital, the body was killed in an airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Sunday. It said another 22 people were injured while waiting for aid trucks.
Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on people seeking desperately needing food, killing hundreds of people in recent weeks. The military said it had fired warning shots at people and said it had approached the troops in a suspicious way.
In addition, World Central Kitchen, a charity run by celebrity chef José Andrés, said hot meals in Gaza were restored for the first time in six weeks after the closure due to Israel’s lockdown because it was relaxed last month due to fears of famine.
The United Nations has called on Israel to stop using deadly forces among people near Gaza aid sites. About 400 Palestinians have been killed since the end of May, when UN agencies were replaced by Israel-approved groups called the Gaza Humanitarian Aid Allocation Foundation.
The October 7 attack and Israeli offensive triggered a series of events that led to a surprise attack on Iran last week. The United States fought a night of war on three Iranian nuclear sites.
The hostage family forum, the main organization representing the hostage family, repeatedly called for agreements to be reached to free the remaining prisoners.
“Especially in the context of current military development and the significant achievements of Iran, we want to emphasize that restoring the remaining 50 hostages is key to achieving any victory,” it said in a statement on Sunday.
As Israeli wars with Iran focus on, Hamas-occupied hostage families fear their plight would be pushed onto the rear burner. About 53 hostages are still caught, many of whom are believed to be dead.
Hamas said it will only release the rest of the hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.
Netanyahu rejected the terms, saying Israel would continue the war until all hostages are returned and Hamas is defeated or disarmed and exiled. Even then, he had said Israel would still have lasting control over Gaza and promote what he calls voluntary immigration to most of its population, planning Palestinians and others believe to be forced to deport.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to facilitate a new ceasefire and hostage release after Israel ended its truce in March with a surprise air strike wave. As Israel expanded its air and ground offensive, these conversations seemed to make little progress.
