Israel has recovered the body of hostage Ilan Weiss from the Gaza Strip, prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday.
The remains of a second hostage, whose name had yet to be released for publication, were also retrieved, the statement added.
It comes as the Israeli military said on Friday it has begun preliminary operations and the initial stages of an attack on Gaza City, adding that it is operating with great force on the outskirts.
Mr Weiss (55), a resident of Kibbutz Be’eri, in southern Israel, was kidnapped from his home and killed during the October 7th, 2023, cross-border attack by Hamas, the Israeli military said.
His wife, Shiri, and daughter, Noga, were also abducted and later released as part of a hostage-prisoner swap deal in November 2023.
With Mr Weiss’s body recovered, Israel says 49 hostages remain in Gaza, of whom only 20 are believed to be alive.
About 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in October 2023, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. The war has displaced nearly the entire 2.3 million population, devastated infrastructure, and triggered a humanitarian crisis.
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Meanwhile, the Israeli military said that starting from Friday, a local humanitarian pause in military activity will not apply to the area of Gaza City, as it “constitutes a dangerous combat zone”.
Israel’s security cabinet had approved a plan to take control of Gaza City, a move expanding military operations in the shattered Palestinian territory that drew strong criticism at home and abroad over its pursuit of the almost two-year-old war.
Last month, Israel announced a halt in military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and new aid corridors as Jordan and the United Arab Emirates airdropped supplies into the enclave.
The Israeli military said on Friday that it “will continue to support humanitarian efforts alongside ongoing manoeuvring and offensive operations against terrorist organisations in the Gaza Strip in order to protect the state of Israel”.
Israel has been facing growing international criticism, which the government rejects, over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and indirect ceasefire talks in Doha between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have broken off with no deal in sight.
Mr Netanyahu has said there will be no end to the war until Hamas is disarmed. – Reuters
