JERUSALEM (Reuters)—Israel retrieved the bodies of six hostages murdered by Hamas, the military said on Tuesday, as negotiations continued in an effort to bring back more than 100 Israeli captives.
The return of the six bodies leaves 109 hostages still believed to be held by Hamas, around a third of whom are thought to be dead, with the fate of the others unknown.
The development came as U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken met officials in Egypt as he visited the region on a trip aimed at negotiating a ceasefire between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas, which refused to join the meetings.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the bodies of Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Abraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, and Chaim Peri were recovered by Israeli soldiers from tunnels under the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis after a "complex operation."
"We will continue working to achieve the goals of this war—returning the hostages to Israel and dismantling Hamas," he said in a statement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the government would keep working to bring back the hostages still held by Hamas.
"The state of Israel will continue to make every effort to return all our hostages—the living and the dead," he said in a statement.
The hostages in Gaza were seized by Hamas gunmen as they rampaged through communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners and abducting around 250 as hostages.