Israel says bodies of hostages taken by Hamas found in Gaza

The remains of some Israeli abductees were discovered during ‘localised’ raids conducted by the military this week, a spokesman said

He added that ‘our assessment suggests’ Hamas is in a state of disarray and its fighters have escaped into tunnels below Gaza

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Supporters and family members of Israeli hostages snatched by Hamas protest outside the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:08am, 15 Oct 2023Updated: 5:50pm, 15 Oct 2023

The Israeli military said that the bodies of some hostages abducted by Hamas militants had been found during operations inside Gaza.

“We have found and located some bodies in the perimeter in the Gaza Strip of Israelis that were abducted,” a military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, told a briefing on Saturday.

On Sunday, the military said the number of confirmed Gaza hostages was 126 and said that at least 279 of its soldiers had been killed since October 7.

The Israeli military has staged “localised” raids inside Gaza to back an air onslaught on the territory that the Hamas government said had left at least 2,300 dead and over 9,700 injured by Sunday morning.

A woman looks at pictures of hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza hanging on a wall outside a military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Saturday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Lerner said the bodies of hostages were found on these “small, close-perimeter raids into the Gaza Strip”.