The Israeli military has recovered the bodies of five hostages killed in a Hamas attack on October 7, held in Gaza since the incident.
According to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), the bodies were retrieved from Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
Earlier reports by the Times of Israel confirmed that all individuals had been killed on the day of the attack and their remains had been detained in Gaza until Wednesday.
Kibbutz Nir Oz released a statement, announcing the recovery of Maya Goren’s body in a military rescue operation.
“After more than nine months, Maya has been brought back home to be laid to rest,” the statement read. Goren was among those kidnapped and taken to Gaza during the October 7 Hamas-led attack.
In a separate statement, authorities from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak reported that the IDF had also recovered the body of hostage Oren Goldin.
“This evening, we were informed about the recovery operation of Oren Goldin, a member of our emergency response team, who fell on October 7,” they said.
The Israeli government has previously declared the presumed death of approximately 40 hostages, based on forensic examinations, intelligence, visual documentation, and testimonies from released hostages.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported on Wednesday that at least 39,145 people have been killed in the more than nine months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The death toll includes 55 fatalities in the past 24 hours, according to ministry figures. Additionally, 90,257 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the conflict began on October 7, when Hamas militants attacked Israel.
“Israeli forces killed 55 people and injured 110 others in three ‘massacres’ against families in the last 24 hours,” the ministry stated.
