Israel says its forces have recovered the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the bodies were found on Saturday in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area.
The IDF named the hostages as Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Sergeant Ori Danino.
US President Joe Biden said Mr Goldberg-Polin was a US citizen. “I am deeply saddened and outraged,” Mr Biden said.
In a statement Sunday morning, the IDF said the bodies had been “returned to Israeli territory.”
“They were all taken hostage on October 7. [2023] and was murdered by the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”
The statement also added that their families have been informed.
Meanwhile, President Biden said in a statement that “Hersh was one of the innocent people brutally attacked while attending a music festival for peace in Israel on October 7.”
“He lost his arm while helping friends and strangers during the brutal Hamas massacre. He had just turned 23. He had planned to travel around the world.
“I got to know his parents, Jon and Rachel. They were brave, wise and steadfast, even as they endured the unimaginable,” Biden said.
The Israeli military launched an operation in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage.
More than 40,530 people have died in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators are trying to broker a ceasefire deal under which Hamas would release 97 hostages still being held, including at least 27 believed to be dead, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
