Bodies of 5 More Hostages Recovered From Gaza

The Israeli military says it recovered the bodies of five more hostages from Gaza after intelligence guided troops to their location. There was apparently never any chance of bringing the hostages back alive: The New York Times reports that all five were presumed killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and their bodies were brought back to Gaza as "bargaining chips." Two of the hostages, 19-year-old Sgt. Kiril Brodski and 20-year-old Staff Sgt. Tomer Yaakov Ahimas, were soldiers killed while defending the Nirim kibbutz during the attack, reports the Times of Israel.

The other three hostages were identified as civilians Maya Goren, 56; Oren Goldin, 33; and Ravid Katz, 51. The Israeli military said the bodies were found in a tunnel under Khan Younis by forces acting on intelligence including information from captured Palestinian militants. After the recovery of the five bodies, some 111 Israeli hostages are believed to still be in Gaza, including 39 confirmed dead by the Israeli military, according to the Times of Israel. In his speech to Congress on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu said he would settle for nothing less than "total victory," which he said would include ending Hamas' rule in Gaza and bringing all the hostages home. (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)