Tel Aviv, June 12 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the bodies of two hostages had been recovered from Gaza in a joint operation carried out by the Israeli military and the domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet.
In a statement on Thursday, Netanyahu confirmed that one of the recovered hostages was Yair Yaakov, while the identity of the second individual has not yet been made public.
"In an operational activity by the IDF and Shin Bet in the Gaza Strip, the bodies of two of our abductees were returned to Israel - the late Yair Yaakov, and another abductee whose name has not yet been released (his family has been informed of this)," he said in a post on X.
The Israeli military said Yaakov, 59, was abducted and killed by the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad during the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.
"Together with all citizens of Israel, my wife and I extend our heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their dearest loved ones. I thank the fighters and commanders for another successful execution of the sacred mission to recover our hostages. We will not rest or be silent until we bring all our captives home -- both the living and the dead," Netanyahu added.
Yaakov's partner, Meirav Tal, and two of his children, Or and Yagil, were also taken hostage during the attack but were later released.
The operation to recover the bodies was conducted in the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza.
The military said the family of the second recovered hostage has been informed, though further details have not yet been disclosed.
There are still 53 hostages believed to be in Gaza, with fewer than half presumed to be alive.
The latest recovery brings the total number of hostage bodies retrieved by Israeli forces this month to five.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a surprise assault into southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 251 others.
In response, Israel launched a retaliatory military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
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