Israel recovers 5 hostage bodies from Gaza

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Thursday it has recovered the bodies of five Israeli hostages in a tunnel under the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, who were abducted by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7.

It identified the hostages as Maya Goren, and four soldiers it says died in battle: Sgt. Oren Goldin, Staff Sgt. Tomer Ahimas, Sgt. Maj. Ravid Aryeh Katz and Sgt. Kiril Brodski. It says all five were believed to have been killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attack that triggered the war, and their bodies were held hostage.

Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the hardest-hit communities during Hamas’ assault, said Wednesday that it was informed that the body of Goren, 56, was returned to Israel after a rescue mission. Israeli authorities had said in late 2023 that she was dead.

The chief military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said the bodies had been found in a tunnel under Khan Younis.

He said the location was in an area that Israel declared in May to be part of an expanded humanitarian zone where Palestinians should take refuge. It was not known how long the bodies had been kept in the tunnel.

Israel has now pronounced dead more than a third of the roughly 110 hostages who remain in Hamas captivity.

Meanwhile, Israel is prepared to attack Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen again following its airstrike last week, the country’s top diplomat said, though Israeli officials would prefer the U.S.-headed maritime security coalition take the lead role.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the Iran-backed terrorist group is planning fresh attacks after a long-distance Houthi drone killed a man in Tel Aviv on July 19. The Houthis are, he said, undeterred despite Israel’s counterstrike on the Red Sea port of Hodeida the following day.

“They will continue,” Katz said in an interview in his Jerusalem office. The Houthis are working with Hezbollah, the most powerful of Iran’s allied terrorist groups, and Shiite militias in Iraq, he said.

The foreign minister reiterated Israel’s threat to escalate fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon unless the group retreats from the border area, where the two sides have traded rocket fire since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas in October.

Both Hezbollah and the Houthis have launched missiles at Israel in solidarity with their fellow Islamist group and Palestinian civilians.

Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis are all designated terrorist organizations by the United States.

Asked if Israel has a list of prospective targets to restrain the Houthis, he said: “Yes, from the beginning of the war, after they attacked Israel, our intelligence began to work so that we will have enough.”

Katz suggested the 10-nation coalition set up by the U.S. late last year to counter the Houthis may be better placed.

“We would prefer that the coalition will lead the war against the Houthis,” he said.

A potential cease-fire in Gaza may serve to ease tension across the region, Katz said, though he played down Hezbollah’s pledge to stop fighting in the event of a truce.

“We won’t accept the ‘quiet for quiet’ formula,” he said, demanding that Hezbollah forces withdraw to the Litani River, well away from the Israeli border where their presence would be perceived as an ongoing threat.

“We have about 70,000 people that we evacuated from the north, and we can’t move them back” until they feel secure, Katz said. “And because of that there is a high chance that it will be a bigger conflict with Lebanon.”