Israeli military says six hostages found dead in Gaza operation

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had found the bodies of six hostages taken in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that sparked the Gaza war.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar are currently trying to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to release hostages held by the militant group.

The military said in a statement that its forces found the bodies during an overnight operation in southern Gaza.

The statement identified the hostages as Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Haim Perry, but did not say when or how they died.

Five of the hostages were over 50 when they were captured, and family members of three were released during a one-week ceasefire in November.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the rescue efforts and said “our hearts are broken by this great loss.”

“The State of Israel will continue to make every effort to repatriate all of our hostages, dead or alive,” he said in a statement.

Hamas is believed to still be holding about 110 hostages captured in the October 7 attack. Israeli authorities estimate that about a third of them are dead.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, making his ninth visit to the region since the war began, said on Monday that Netanyahu had accepted an offer to bridge the gap in ceasefire talks and called on Hamas to do the same.

Hamas accuses the United States of accepting Israel’s demands and trying to impose them on the militant group.

On October 7, Hamas-led militants broke through Israeli defenses and rampaged through the south, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages.

More than 100 hostages were released during a week-long ceasefire last year in exchange for Palestinians held in Israel.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, but it has not said how many of them were militants.

The air and ground operations caused widespread destruction and forced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents to flee their homes.

Mediators have been trying to hammer out a three-phase plan that would see Hamas release all hostages in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, an Israeli withdrawal from the territory and a lasting ceasefire, but the two sides appear to remain far apart.