The bodies of three more hostages killed on Oct 7. were recovered overnight from Gaza, Israel’s army said Friday, as the top United Nations court prepares to rule on whether Israel must halt its military operations and withdraw from the enclave.
The bodies of Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez Radoux were found and their families have been notified. The army said they were killed on the day of the attack at the Mefalsim intersection and their bodies were taken to Gaza.
The announcement comes less than a week after the army said it found the bodies of three other Israeli hostages killed on Oct. 7.
Hamas-led militants abducted about 250 people on that day. Around half of those hostages have since been freed, most in swaps for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a weeklong ceasefire in November.
Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.
On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country had a duty to do everything to return those abducted, both those killed and those who are alive.
WATCH l Few options for those fleeing Rafah:
Abdullah Tayseer and Muhammad Abu Aser were both displaced from Rafah to Khan Younis amid a looming Israeli military incursion. Tayseer says he was forced to live near garbage.
ICJ ruling expected
The country is also expecting a ruling Friday by the International Court of Justice to decide on an urgent plea by South Africa to order Israel to cease operations. Israel is unlikely to comply with any such order. Even so, a ceasefire order by judges of the International Court of Justice would heap more pressure on an increasingly isolated Israel.
Friday’s ruling comes just days after the chief prosecutor of another court in The Hague, the International Criminal Court, announced he is seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israel’s defence minister and three Hamas leaders.
Reacting to the ICC announcement, Netanyahu said: “No amount of pressure and no decision in any international forum will prevent Israel from defending itself against those who seek our destruction.”
The army said on Friday the hostages were found during an operation in Jabaliya. Military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a news conference that the army was able to retrieve the bodies based on “critical intelligence” uncovered last week by Israeli forces operating in Gaza.
The group representing the families of the hostages said the bodies had been returned to their families for burial.
Nisenbaum, 59, was a Brazilian-Israeli from the southern city of Sderot. He was taken hostage when he went to rescue his four-year-old granddaughter.
Yablonka, 42, a father of two, was taken from the Nova music festival in southern Israel. His family in December told The Associated Press that he loved music. Yablonka’s family had no news of him for nearly two months after he’d been taken, not knowing if he was alive or dead.
Orion Hernandez Radoux, 30, was a French-Mexican citizen also taken from the music festival, which he attended with his partner, Shani Louk. Louk’s body was one of those found by the army nearly a week ago.
In a post on X Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron gave condolences to the family of Hernandez Radoux, saying France remains committed to releasing the hostages.
On the hostages, anger is growing in Israel at the government’s handling of the crisis.
Earlier this week, a group representing the families of hostages released new video footage showing Hamas’s capture of five female Israeli soldiers near the Gaza border on Oct. 7.
The video shows several of the young soldiers bloody and wounded. In one scene, a militant tells one of the terrified women she is beautiful.
The video sparked more protests across the country calling for the hostages’ release.
The attacks led by Hamas, considered a terrorist group by several Western nations including Canada, killed around 1,200 people. Several of the dead were Canadian citizens.
Israel’s offensive since the war began has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and has caused a humanitarian crisis and a near-famine.