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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the bodies of two hostages have been recovered from Gaza by the army and the domestic intelligence agency, The Shin Bet.
A body was identified as belonging to Yair Yaakov, said Netanyahu, but the identity of the other has not been authorized for publication.
The Israeli army said that militants of the Islamic Palestinian Group Jihad kidnapped and killed Yaakov during the October 7, 2023 attack against southern Israel.
The militants also took Yakov’s partner, Meirav Tal, and two of his children, or Yagil, as a hostage, but then released, the military said. Yaakov was 59 years old at the time of his death.
He said he notified the family of the second hostage whose body recovered. You were found in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
There are still 53 hostages in Gaza, with less than half that are believed to be alive.
Israeli forces have recovered five hostage agencies so far this month.
Air attacks, shots leave 60 dead, authorities say
In Gaza, on Wednesday, Israeli shots and air attacks killed at least 60 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them near a help site operated by the Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) backed by the United States and Israel in the center of the enclave, local health officials said.
Medical officials of the Shifa and Al-Quds hospitals said at least 25 people died and dozens wounded when approaching a food distribution center near the old Jewish settlement of Netzarim before dawn.
The Army of Israel, who has been at war with Hamas militants since October 2023, said his forces fired warning shots during the night towards a group of suspects while representing a threat to troops in the Netzarim corridor area.
“This despite the warnings that the area is an active combat zone. IDF are aware of reports on injured people; the details are under review,” he said.
Later on Wednesday, the health officials of the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip said that at least 14 people had been killed by Israeli shots when they approached another GHF site in Rafah.
The Foundation said it was not aware of Wednesday’s incidents, but added that it was working closely with Israeli authorities to ensure that safe passage routes are maintained, and that it was essential that the Palestinians closely follow the instructions.
“Ultimately, the solution is more help, which will create more certainty and less urgency among the population,” he said by email in response to Reuters questions.
“There is not enough food yet to feed all those in need in Gaza. Our current approach is to feed as many people as possible within the limitations of a highly volatile environment.”
In a statement, GHF said it distributed 2.5 million meals on Wednesday, the delivery of a single larger day since it began operating, which caused more than 16 million the number of meals provided from its operations began at the end of May.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health says that since then, 163 Palestinians had been killed and more than 1,000 injured trying to obtain food boxes.
The United Nations have condemned the murders and has refused to supply help through the Foundation, which uses private contractors with an Israeli military security copy in what they say is a violation of humanitarian standards.
In another part of Gaza on Wednesday, his Ministry of Health said that at least 11 other people were killed by Israeli shots and attacked by the coastal enclave.
The war broke out 20 months ago after the militants led by Hamas took 251 hostages and killed some 1,200 people on October 7, 2023, the Israeli authorities say, in what was the most fatal day in the country.
Israel’s military campaign has since then killed almost 55,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip, which houses more than two million people. Most of the population is displaced and malnutrition is widespread.
