Three hostages found dead in Gaza named by Israeli military

Three Israeli hostages taken by Hamas during the October 7 terror attack have been found dead in northern Gaza, Chloe Keedy reports from Tel Aviv

The bodies of three hostages, allegedly taken by Hamas, have been found in northern Gaza, the Israeli military said on Friday.

Their bodies were recovered by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the ISA, Israel’s domestic security agency, in Jabalya overnight.

They were named as Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez, the IDF said. Authorities have informed their families.

The IDF said that all three had been killed on October 7, but they did not provide evidence.

The Hostages Families Forum - a group representing the relatives of those taken - said the bodies had been returned to their families for burial.

Mr Nisenbaum, 59, was a Brazilian-Israeli from the southern city of Sderot. He was taken hostage when he went to rescue his four-year-old granddaughter.

Mr Hernandez, 30, was a French-Mexican citizen taken from the Nova music festival, which he attended with his partner Shani Louk. Ms Louk's body was one of those found by the army a week ago.

Mr Yablonka, 42, was also taken from the music festival. His family had no news of him for nearly two months after he’d been taken and did not know if he was alive or dead.

The IDF launched its military offensive 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. It is not clear how many of those unaccounted for are still alive. Israeli attacks in Gaza have since killed at least 35,800 Palestinians and wounded another 80,011 people, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health there.

The crisis in Gaza is worsening as Israel deepens its offensive in the southern city of Rafah.

It has made it impossible for aid shipments to get through the crossing there, which is a key source for fuel and food coming into Gaza.

Israel says it is bringing aid in through another border crossing, Kerem Shalom, but humanitarian organisations say Israeli military operations make it difficult for them to retrieve the aid there for distribution.

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