ISRAEL has recovered the bodies of two hostages from Gaza as its military pushes into Gaza City, now declared a “dangerous combat zone.”
One of them was identified as Ilan Weiss, 56, who was killed defending his community of Kibbutz Be’eri during the October 7 attacks.
The body of Israeli hostage Ilan Weiss was recovered in an Israeli military operation in the Gaza StripAP
AFPThe military announced it will continue its Gaza City offensive[/caption]
GettyArmoured vehicles of Israeli army seen as military mobility and offensive continue near the border line of the Gaza Strip on Thursday[/caption]
His wife and daughter were abducted but freed from Hamas’ terror claws in a November ceasefire.
The remains of another hostage, not yet identified, were also returned, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
Netanyahu said on Friday: “The campaign to return the hostages continues continuously.
“We will not rest or be silent until we return all of our hostages home — both the living and the dead.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz offered “deep condolences” to Weiss’s family, praising him for having “bravely managed the defensive battle in Be’eri and prevented an even greater disaster.”
He vowed: “We will not rest and we will not stop until everyone returns home.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said that alongside the “grief and pain,” the recovery of Weiss’s body “provides some comfort to the family after 692 days of waiting in the nightmare of uncertainty.”
Of the 251 people abducted on October 7, some 48 remain trapped between rubble and terror tunnels in Gaza.
And from those, only 20 are believed to be still alive – bravely surviving daily horrors in the hands of Hamas terrorists.
It comes as the Israeli military said it has begun the “initial stages” of its Gaza City assault, suspending daily pauses that had allowed aid to flow in.
The IDF announced Friday: “We will deepen our strikes and will not hesitate until we return all the abductees and Hamas is dismantled militarily and governmentally.”
The military said the return to around-the-clock fighting was part of its expanded campaign.
Spokesperson Avichay Adraee, speaking in Arabic, urged Palestinians in Gaza City to flee south, warning the evacuation was “inevitable.”
Aid groups countered that many families are exhausted after repeated displacements and see no safe place left to go.
The UN said about 23,000 people have managed to leave Gaza City over the past week, but warned a full offensive could wipe out half of the strip’s hospital bed capacity.
The suspension of tactical pauses also came just one week after global food experts confirmed famine had taken hold in Gaza City.
The offensive, supported by 60,000 reservists, is expected to displace thousands more Palestinians.
The UN warned that around one million people could face renewed displacement, saying further escalation would “push more people toward catastrophe”.
GettyIsraeli airstrikes seen over a decimated Gaza City as officials warn ‘the gates of hell will open’ if Hamas refuses to release all of the remaining hostages[/caption]
GettyFamine was officially declared in Gaza City for the first time by an international body responsible for monitoring world hunger[/caption]
APPalestinians carry sacks of flour taken from a humanitarian aid convoy[/caption]
In Gaza City, 440 people remain sheltering inside the Holy Family Catholic Church.
Church spokesman Farid Jubran said: “When we feel danger, people get closer to the walls or whatever, it’s more protected.”
Jubran added that the decision to remain was left entirely to the people inside, while clergy stayed to help care for them.
Aid groups, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, said they had not been notified before Israel suspended its daily pauses, and warned the looming offensive would have a “horrific impact” on people already malnourished, displaced and deprived of basic needs.
GettyPalestinians are being forced to flee and take to the roads Due to the Israeli army’s intense attacks on the northern Gaza Strip[/caption]