Israeli forces have found the bodies of five people believed to have been killed in The October 7 attack by Hamas militants in southern Israel and taken to the Gaza Strip, where they are being held hostage, the army said Thursday.
The army said the bodies of hostage Maya Goren and four soldiers were returned to Israel. The soldiers were identified as Sergeant Oren Goldin, Staff Sergeant Tomer Ahimas, Sergeant Major Ravid Aryeh Katz and Sergeant Kiril Brodski.
The bodies were found on Wednesday during an operation in Khan Yunis, the main city in the southern Gaza Strip, the army said.
The military announced Goren’s death in December.
Hostage Families Forum / Document distributed via REUTERS
Thursday’s announcement came after two Israeli kibbutzim, Nir Oz and Nir Yitzhak, said in separate statements that the army had recovered the bodies of Goren and Goldin.
“Last night we were informed that during a military rescue operation, the body of Maya Goren was found,” Kibbutz Nir Oz said, adding that her family had been informed and more information would follow. Goren was a 56-year-old kindergarten teacher.
Later, Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak said the army had returned Goldin’s body.
“This evening we were informed of the rescue operation of the late Oren Goldin, a member of the kibbutz emergency team, who fell on October 7 during the attack by Hamas militants,” Nir Yitzhak said.
On October 7, Hamas militants attacked communities in southern Israel, killing 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The militants also took 251 hostages, 111 of whom remain in Gaza, 39 of whom the army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,145 people, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-controlled territory’s health ministry.
