The Israeli military (IDF) on Tuesday announced the recovery of six hostage bodies from the Gaza Strip. They have all been identified as victims who had been kidnapped alive on Oct.7: Avraham Munder, Alex Dancyg, Chaim Peri, Yagev Buchshtab, Yoram Metzger, and Nadav Popplewell.
The grim fact that most of the IDF's recent recoveries are of deceased persons doesn't bode well for the remainder 109 hostages, who have been held prisoners of Hamas in a raging war zone for more than ten months.
The Hostages Families and Missing Forum called on the Israeli government to "do everything in its power" to finalize a long-delayed agreement to gain the release of the rest. More are feared already dead.
"Israel has a moral and ethical obligation to return all the murdered for dignified burial and to bring all living hostages home for rehabilitation," the group said. "The immediate return of the remaining 109 hostages can only be achieved through a negotiated deal."
On Monday we noted that Secretary Blinken while in Tel Aviv issued words praising Netanyahu for accepting a US-proposed ceasefire, but one that doesn't actually exist within the framework of real negotiations with Hamas.
A mere 12 hours later, Netanyahu told the hostage victims' family members in a meeting that "I’m not sure there will be a deal, but if there is a deal – the deal will be one that preserves … Israel’s strategic assets." And more:
During the meeting, Netanyahu also doubled down on maintaining control over the Philadelphi Corridor, which has become a major sticking point in the continuing ceasefire negotiations, reported Walla.
He said Israel won't withdraw from the area "under any circumstances". This after months of consistent statements vowing the stay the course in Gaza until the full eradication of the Hamas terror organization.
As of Tuesday Blinken is in Egypt, and Israel has also sent a negotiating team to meet with Egyptian and Qatari mediators to consider the latest proposals of a possible ceasefire.
The Israeli and US narrative is that Hamas has already rejected the newest proposed deal, while Hamas and the Palestinian side have said that Netanyahu simply agreed to attach non-starters to a deal he knew would never get off the ground.
Meanwhile, in Israel victims' families and their advocates are still protesting, with Mati Dancyg, whose father Alex’s body was among the latest recoveries, accusing the Netanyahu government of "choosing to abandon the hostages in order to survive."
"He and all the hostages could have been brought back," Dancyg said. "Netanyahu chose to sacrifice the hostages. Karma will judge him and he will pay for it, big time."
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Below are some of the latest developments via Al Jazeera:
- Israeli forces bombed a school in western Gaza City, killing at least 12 people, including several children, according to Gaza’s civil defence.
- Israel’s military, without offering evidence, claimed Hamas operatives were “embedded” in the school, using a hidden “command centre” there.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has travelled to Egypt to meet with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, as part of what he believes may be a last-ditch effort to reach a Gaza ceasefire.
- After their meeting, Sisi said the time had come to end the Gaza war, which risked throwing the region into a broader conflict that is “difficult to imagine”.
- Hamas rejected US claims that it is blocking a ceasefire deal, saying instead that Israel has added new terms impeding the deal. The US, Hamas said, is showing “blind bias” towards Israel and enabling it to “commit more crimes against defenceless civilians”.