Israeli army says bodies of 3 hostages recovered in Gaza

The Israeli military said Sunday that it had recovered the bodies of three hostages in Gaza more than 20 months after they were abducted by Hamas militants.

“In a special operation… the bodies of the hostages Ofra Keidar, Yonatan Samerano and Staff Sergeant Shay Levinson were recovered from the Gaza Strip yesterday,” the military said in a statement.

Samerano’s father had announced earlier Sunday that his son’s body, which was taken into Gaza after he was murdered in a kibbutz by the territory on October 7, 2023, had been recovered by the Israeli army.

Keidar, a 71-year-old mother of three, was also killed in a kibbutz and abducted, while 19-year-old tank commander Levinson “engaged and fought terrorists on the morning of October 7 and fell in combat,” a statement from the military said.

The attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel in October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Of the 251 hostages seized during the assault, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s military campaign has killed at least 55,908 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The UN considers these figures reliable.