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Israeli Military Recovers Bodies of Five Hostages From Gaza

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Demonstrators protest the visit of Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington D.C. near the Israeli Consulate on July 24, 2024 in New York City. Israelis for Peace NYC, an Israeli anti-occupation activist group, held a protest against Prime Minister Netanyahu as he addressed a joint meeting of Congress during his visit to Washington DC. The group is calling on Congress to stop funding Israel's war in Gaza as well as calling for a ceasefire and a deal to release the hostages held by Hamas. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) (Michael M. Santiago/Photographer: Michael M. Santiag)

(Bloomberg) -- 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. 

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 US 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.

--With assistance from Dan Williams.

(Updates number of hostages’ bodies recovered from first paragraph.)

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