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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| Israeli forces recover bodies of three hostages from Gaza | |
| 2025-06-22 | |
| [NY Post] Israeli forces have recovered the bodies of three hostages which had been held in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’ 2023 attack, the military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. The hostages were identified as civilians Ofra Keidar and Yonatan Samerano, and soldier Shay Levinson. All were killed on the day of the attack, on October 7, 2023, the military said. With their retrieval, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
The operation to recover the bodies was carried out by the Gaza Division, and was “enabled by precise intelligence” obtained by the military’s Hostages Headquarters unit, the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Shin Bet, the IDF said. The three bodies were brought to Israel for identification at the Abu Kabir forensic institute, after which their families were notified. One of Samerano’s captors was an employee of UNRWA, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees. He was one of 12 people employed by the agency who “actively participated” in the Hamas-led onslaught, then-defense minister Yoav Gallant revealed to the public in February 2024. UNRWA fired all 12 employees implicated in the massacre when the allegations surfaced. | |
| Posted by:Frank G |