Bodies of six Israeli hostages recovered near Khan Younis

Israeli forces on Tuesday recovered the bodies of six hostages from Gaza, one of whom was previously believed to be alive.

Yoram Metzger, 80, Chaim Peri, also 80, 76-year-old Alexander Dancyg, Yagev Buchshtab, 35, and 51-year-old Nadav Popplewell were all killed in custody earlier this year. Avraham Munder, 79, was believed to still be alive.

According to the Hostages Families Forum, Mr. Munder was captured alive and “endured a painful captivity, along with his loved ones.”

“He should have returned home to his family alive. His murder in custody underscores the delay in implementing the deal that could have saved his life and the lives of other hostages,” the forum added.

According to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), the bodies were found in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, by forces from the Israeli military and the Shin Bet intelligence service.

The rescue operation came as efforts to bridge the rift between Hamas and Israel over a ceasefire continued, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “confirmed” that Israel supports the “bridge proposal” presented by Washington after a two-day summit in Cairo last week.

“The next important step is for Hamas to say yes,” Blinken said.

US President Joe Biden also commented on the fragile ceasefire talks while addressing the Democratic National Convention, saying: “It’s still happening, but you can’t predict it. Israel says they can fix it… Hamas is now backing off.”

Hamas has criticized the ceasefire negotiations and Washington’s attempt to bridge the gap, saying their proposal “raises many ambiguities” because it is not what was presented to Hamas “and not what we agreed on.”

“We don’t need new negotiations on a ceasefire in Gaza, we need to agree on an implementation mechanism,” Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official, told Reuters.

The question of who will control the Philadelphia Corridor, a buffer zone that separates Gaza from Egypt, is seen as one of the main sticking points in the ceasefire negotiations. Israel is keen to retain control.

Middle East Eye quoted three senior Egyptians as saying that Cairo has agreed to let Israel retain control of the corridor in exchange for reopening the Rafah crossing, which will be administered by the Palestinians. Israel has not yet commented on the report.

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