The Israeli military on Tuesday morning confirmed the recovery of the bodies of six hostages from the Gaza Strip in an overnight operation.
The military said their corpses were found in the city of Khan Younis in the south of the coastal territory, adding that the families of the six men have been informed
Five of the men were said to be between the ages of 35 and 80.
The Army had previously declared several dead, saying that they were all alive when they were abducted.
According to Israel’s count, the Palestinian militant organisation Hamas still holds 109 hostages, many of whom are likely no longer alive.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently trying to broker an agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict and the release of the hostages.
Blinken said that Israel has accepted a U.S.-supported proposal to bridge differences between Israel and Hamas, however, Hamas has not yet agreed to it.
It was gathered that Hamas and other Palestinian militants abducted a total of 253 people from Israel into Gaza on October 7.
Some of them were freed through a prisoner exchange, and a few hostages were able to be rescued by the Israeli army, albeit at high cost.
The Israeli army did that to the Palestinian civilian population during these military operations, for which Israel has faced international criticism.