The Israeli military has announced that they have recovered the bodies of six hostages taken into the Gaza Strip following the October 7 attacks.

The Israeli troops entered the Hamas tunnels in an overnight operation in the city of Khan Younis to recover the bodies of the deceased hostages. Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said in a post on X that it was a “complex operation” undertaken in southern Gaza.

“We will continue working to achieve the goals of this war – returning the hostages to Israel and dismantling Hamas,” he wrote.

The IDF had already confirmed the death of five hostages. The military said it identified the remains of Haim Perry, Yoram Metzger, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Nadav Popplewell and Yagev Buchshtav.

The operations came as the United States, Egypt and Qatar all push towards a ceasefire deal that would end Israel’s offensive attacks in Gaza.

Israel said that there are still believed to be 110 hostages still in captivity.

On October 7, 250 hostages were taken by Hamas after they led an attack at a music festival late last year. Subsequently, Israeli forces stormed the Gaza strip, displacing millions of residents and killing over 40,000 civilians according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Photo: Gaza City by OneArmedMan is available HERE and is used under a Creative Commons Licence. This image has not been modified.