Israel retrieves bodies of two hostages as Gaza City offensive begins | World | News

Israel says it has recovered the bodies of two hostages during the IDF’s new offensive on Gaza City.

IDF and Shin Bet forces recovered the body of slain hostage Ilan Weiss in an operation in the Gaza Strip, the military confirmed in a statement.

His body was recovered along with the partial remains of a second hostage, whose identity has not yet been made public.

The identification process for the second recovered body is still ongoing at the Abu Kabir National Institute of Forensic Medicine.

“The campaign to return the hostages continues continuously. We will not rest or be silent until we return all of our hostages home — both the living and the dead,” Netanyahu said.

Of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas-led militants almost 22 months ago, roughly 50 remain in Gaza including 20 that Israel believes to be alive.

The discovery comes as Israeli forces declared Gaza’s largest city a dangerous combat zone and said it was in the ″initial stages″ of a long-awaited planned offensive that has already drawn international condemnation.

Israel’s military said it suspended mid-day pauses to fighting, which had allowed food and aid supplies to enter from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., while also reporting it had recovered the bodies of two hostages and vowed its military offensive would return more.

The shift comes weeks after Israel first announced plans to widen its offensive in Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering and enduring famine.

The resumption of around-the-clock fighting is the latest escalation after Israel reported strikes in some of the city’s key neighborhoods and called up tens of thousands of reservists.

“We will intensify our strikes until we bring back all the kidnapped hostages and dismantle Hamas,” Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said.