The Israeli army has retrieved the bodies of six more captives from southern Gaza's Khan Younis, the military and the prime minister's office confirmed Tuesday.
The families of Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Chaim Perry have been informed, they said in a statement.
The Hostages Families Forum, an organization that represents most hostage families, welcomed the news but renewed its call on the government to conclude a hostage release deal with the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
"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," it said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the Middle East this week trying to secure a cease-fire and hostage return agreement between Israel and Hamas.
The current war in Gaza was triggered by the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion that killed around 1,200 people and abducted about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's genocidal war in response since killed over 40,000 Gazans, leveled swathes of the Palestinian enclave and drove nearly all of its 2.3 million people from their homes, according to Palestinian health authorities.
