The bodies of Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez were found, and their families have been notified. According to the Israeli army, they were killed on the day of the attack at the Mefalsim intersection, and their bodies were taken to Gaza. This development comes less than a week after the army discovered the bodies of three other Israeli hostages who were also killed on October 7.
The attack was carried out by Hamas-led militants, resulting in the deaths of around 1,200 people, primarily civilians. Additionally, approximately 250 individuals were abducted during the same attack. Since then, about half of the hostages have been freed, with most of the releases occurring through swaps for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a weeklong cease-fire in November.
Despite these efforts, approximately 100 hostages remain captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 others. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to both eliminate Hamas and secure the return of all hostages, but progress has been slow. The situation has escalated to the point where the United States has threatened to reduce its support due to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Furthermore, the International Court of Justice is expected to issue a ruling on an urgent plea by South Africa, which seeks to order Israel to cease its military operations. While compliance with such an order is unlikely, it would add further pressure to an already isolated Israel.
Within Israel, opinions are divided into two main camps: those advocating for a temporary halt to the conflict to secure the hostages’ release and those who believe that the hostages are an unfortunate price to pay for eradicating Hamas. Negotiations, intermittently mediated by Qatar, the United States, and Egypt, have yielded limited results. Meanwhile, anger is growing among the families of the hostages, who recently released video footage showing Hamas’ capture of five female Israeli soldiers near the Gaza border on October 7.
