Israel recovers bodies of two hostages

12/6/2025 6:16

Israel's Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the bodies of two

hostages had been recovered from Gaza by the military and the

domestic intelligence agency, the Shin Bet.



Netanyahu said in a statement that the body of hostage Yair

Yaakov had been retrieved, along with that of another hostage

whose identity has not been cleared for publication.



The Israeli military said militants from the Palestinian

group Islamic Jihad abducted and killed Yaakov during the

October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.



Militants also took Yaakov’s partner, Meirav Tal, and two of

his children, Or and Yagil, hostage but later released them, the

military said. Yaakov was 59 at the time of his death.



The military said it notified the family of the second

hostage whose body it recovered, adding that it retrieved the

bodies in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza.



There are 53 hostages still being held in Gaza, with fewer

than half believed to be alive.



The latest recovery brings to five the number of hostage

bodies retrieved by Israeli forces so far this month.



Hamas and other militants from Gaza abducted 251 people

during the 2023 attack in which about 1,200 people in Israel

were killed.



Israel's retaliatory war against Hamas in Gaza has killed

nearly 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health

authorities.