Bodies of six hostages in Israel – Pressure mounts on Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli occupation forces recovered the bodies of six Israelis from the Khan Younis area in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday night. Five of the dead were already known, but there were hopes that the sixth man might be found alive.

The men, aged between 35 and 80, were kidnapped from the kibbutzim of Nir Oz and Nirim near the Gaza border during a Hamas attack on October 7. The hostages' families' organization said in a statement that returning the bodies home would mean “a necessary end” for their relatives.

The group adds that a deal with Hamas is Israel's only option to bring the remaining hostages home, and calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to complete the ongoing negotiations. A total of 109 Israelis are said to be still being held captive in Gaza, but only 73 are believed to be alive.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid is also pressuring the government to reach an agreement.

“The days go by and we lose more and more hostages. We must reach an agreement,” Lapid said. Social media.

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, on the contrary, believes that the hostages can only be returned to their homeland through “intense military pressure” and advises against “negligence agreements” which, he says, could lead to more kidnappings.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that Israel had accepted the White House proposal for a ceasefire, but the details remained unclear, and Hamas did not appear fully convinced.

– When Blinken says the Israelis have accepted and the Israelis say it is an updated proposal, this means that the Americans are subject to Israeli pressure and not the other way around, as Hamas representative Osama Hamdan told Reuters, according to TT.

Nine-year-old Ohad Monder, whose grandfather is one of the dead who has now returned to Israel, does not believe the government did enough to rescue his grandfather and the other hostages.

– All the hostages could have returned home alive on the first day, he told Israel's Kan radio, CNN reported.