The bodies of three hostages taken by Hamas have been found in Jabalya, in northern Gaza, the Israeli military said on Friday. All three were killed on October 7 at the Mefalsim intersection near Israel's border with Gaza, and their bodies were taken into the enclave by Hamas, according to the military. The three victims were identified as Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. Authorities have informed their families. Their bodies were recovered by the IDF and the ISA, Israel's domestic security agency, in a military operation in Jabalya overnight. "At the beginning of the operation, intense combat was carried out in the area," the IDF said. Israel launched its war in Gaza following the Hamas-led October 7 attacks in southern Israel, where the militant group killed around 1,200 people and abducted more than 250 people. There are still 121 hostages who were abducted on October 7 in Gaza. Israeli attacks in Gaza have since killed at least 35,800 Palestinians, according to the Ministry of Health there. Meanwhile, a group representing hostages' families said the recovery of the three bodies from northern Gaza on Thursday "provides important closure" for their loved ones. "The recovery of their bodies is a silent but resolute reminder that the State of Israel is obligated to immediately dispatch negotiation teams with a clear demand to bring about a deal that will swiftly return all the hostages home: the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for burial," the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said on Friday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara Netanyahu, offered condolences, saying they "bowed our heads in deep sorrow and embrace the grieving families in their difficult time." "We have a national and moral duty to do everything we can to return our hostages — those who are alive as well as the fallen," the Israeli prime minister added. He praised the Israeli forces for recovering the bodies of three hostages overnight "in the heart of enemy territory." Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that Israel must "bring everyone back — those still alive, and those we must bring for burial." For months, there has been growing pressure on Netanyahu to secure the release of the Israelis still held by Hamas, which his government has made a key goal of its war in Gaza. Numerous attempts to strike a hostage-for-ceasefire deal with Hamas have faltered in recent months, infuriating those in Israel campaigning for the return of the captives. — CNN
