OAN Staff Blake Wolf
4:04 PM – Tuesday, August 20, 2024
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has recovered six deceased Israeli hostages in a southern Gaza rescue operation on Monday.
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“Overnight our forces returned the bodies of six of our hostages that had been held by the murderous Hamas terrorist organization,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I would like to thank the brave IDF and ISA fighters and commanders for their heroism and determined action. The State of Israel will continue to make every effort to return all of our hostages.”
Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, and Chaim Perry were the victims whose bodies were extracted in the operation.
The IDF’s international spokesperson, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, commented on the operation.
“This was a complex rescue operation that was conducted both above and below ground. We have not yet finished all our missions in the area. We are still operating inside the tunnels,” he stated. “The bodies were being held in a tunnel under an area previously designated as part of the Humanitarian Area in Khan Yunis.”
“The soldiers of the Yahalom Unit and the ISA investigated the route and neutralized the obstructions, blast doors, weapons, explosives and hideouts used by the terrorists,” the IDF added. “The rescue was carried out after prolonged combat in a built-up area and in multi-story buildings, in which the forces carried out operations and searches that led to the elimination of terrorists and the destruction of terrorist infrastructure.”
The Hostages Families Forum issued a statement following the operation, urging the Israeli government to complete a hostage release deal.
“The immediate return of the remaining 109 hostages can only be achieved through a negotiated deal. The Israeli government, with the assistance of mediators, must do everything in its power to finalize the deal currently on the table,” said the organization.
Meanwhile, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been in the Middle East since Sunday in an attempt to facilitate a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas leadership.
“The parties – with the help of the mediators, the United States, Egypt and Qatar – have to come together and complete the process of reaching clear understandings about how they’ll implement the commitments that they’ve made under this agreement,” said Blinken. “But there is, I think, a real sense of urgency here across the region on the need to get this over the finish line and to do it as soon as possible.”
The cease-fire agreement would “secure the release of all hostages, surge humanitarian assistance and create a path for broader regional stability,” according to U.S. State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel.
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