Israeli army says body of abducted soldier recovered
Israeli tanks have entered deeper into Khan Younis amid battles with Hamas-led militants as the army said it had recovered the body of an abducted soldier.
The Israeli military says the body of a soldier abducted by Gaza militants on October 7 has been recovered and taken to Israel.
The military said the rescue operation took place overnight and that his name would not be published at the request of his family.
“The soldier fell during the October 7th massacre and he was taken hostage in the Gaza Strip,” it said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the soldiers involved in the operation and said he would continue to exert every effort to bring back to Israel all “of the remaining hostages and bodies”.
There are still 108 hostages remaining in Gaza being held by militant groups.
About a third of these are thought to have died, with the fate of the others unknown.
The army has not confirmed how many are alive or dead.
Hamas and Israeli leaders are continuing talks through mediators in a push to secure a hostage deal and bring an end to the 10-month-old war.
Deputy CIA director David Cohen said on Wednesday the fate of a ceasefire deal was “largely a question that is going to be answered” by the leader of the Palestinian militant group.
Cohen did not refer to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar by name.
The Israeli side was showing seriousness in the negotiations, Cohen told an intelligence and national security summit in Washington DC.
Mediators from the US, Egypt and Qatar have been working to strike a deal between the sides and prevent a broader regional war.
On those efforts, Cohen said: “There may be episodes where people would step back from the brink, but I don’t think anybody can be confident that that effort to control escalation is something that … any party in that region” can control.
Reuters
