IDF finds bodies in Gaza that may be of hostages; identification process underway
Army calls on public not to spread rumors, as Biden reacts and urges patience until process is complete; hostage families encourage major protests, saying ‘country will tremble’
The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday night that troops had located several bodies in the Gaza Strip which could be the remains of Israeli hostages, but cautioned that the bodies had yet to be identified.
The announcement, which came after other bodies of captives were recently returned from the Strip, drew immediate furious reactions against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, who have been accused of failing to secure a deal to return the hostages and thus abandoning them to their deaths.
“At this stage, the forces are still operating in the area and carrying out a process to extract and identify the bodies, which will last several hours,” the military said Saturday night.
The military called on the public not to spread unverified rumors.
US President Joe Biden reacted as he exited a church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, noting there was uncertainty about the exact number of bodies found and “a lot of speculation who they are,” and adding that the matter should wait until they are identified and “their families are notified.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a prominent activist group representing many relatives of abductees held in Gaza, said it planned to announce plans for major protests Sunday, as the crisis neared its 12th month.
“Netanyahu abandoned the hostages,’ the group said. “It is now a fact. Starting tomorrow, the country will tremble. We call on the public to prepare. The country will grind to a halt. The abandonment is over.” It promised more details in the morning.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid also responded, accusing Netanyahu of focusing on insignificant issues as “our sons and daughters are being abandoned and dying in captivity.”
“Not the Philadelphi Corridor nor the polio vaccines [in Gaza] interest him — just the coalition and preserving [the partnership with Bezalel] Smotrich and [Itamar] Ben Gvir,” he charged. “In the process, he is crushing the families and the nation of Israel.”
It is believed that 103 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 33 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that.
Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 31 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
If the newly found remains are confirmed to be of hostages, it would be added to 12 bodies of hostages retrieved from Gaza in the past few weeks.
On July 25, the IDF announced the return of five dead captives: Ravid Katz, 51, Oren Goldin, 33, Maya Goren, 56, Sgt. Kiril Brodski, 19, and Staff Sgt. Tomer Yaakov Ahimas, 20.
On August 20, the military recovered the remains of six others: Alex Dancyg, 75, Yagev Buchshtav, 35, Chaim Peri, 79, Yoram Metzger, 80, Nadav Popplewell, 51, and Avraham Munder, 78.
And on Wednesday, the army said it had returned the body of an Israeli soldier who was killed and abducted by Hamas on October 7. At the request of the family, that hostage’s name was not immediately permitted for publication.
On Tuesday, hostage Farhan al-Qadi was rescued alive from the Strip. After returning home, he said he had told Netanyahu it was time to “put an end” to the saga of the hostages, urging the public to “do everything — demonstrations, everything — to get the people home.”
