Three more bodies of hostages taken by Hamas terrorists during the group’s unprecedented Oct. 7 attack on Israel were recovered overnight in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said on Friday.
The recovery took place during an operation in Jabalia, a city in northern Gaza.
The hostages were identified by the IDF as 42-year-old Hanan Yablonka, 30-year-old Orión Hernández Radoux and 59-year-old Michel Nisenbaum.
All three were killed near the Mefalsim area in southern Israel on Oct. 7, the IDF said, and were found not far from the location where bodies recovered last week were found.
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Yablonka, who was divorced, was a father to two children, ages 12 and 9.
He was with four friends in his vehicle when Hamas launched its unprecedented attack. One of the friends was found dead in the car, another was dead in a field and the last two were killed in a nearby hiding place they had found, the IDF said.
Radoux, who was a father of one, was a French-Mexican citizen who was taken captive at the Nova music festival he was attending with his girlfriend, Shani Louk. Her body was one of the three found and recovered on May 17.
Nisenbaum, who had lived in Israel since 1988, had two daughters and six grandchildren. He was on his way to pick up his granddaughter when he was taken hostage, according to the IDF.
BODY OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE RETRIEVED OVERNIGHT DURING IDF OPERATION IN GAZA
The Hostages Families Forum Headquarters released the following statement after the recovery was announced on Friday:
“The sorrowful return of Michel, Hanan, and Oryon is another heartbreak for the 125 families of the hostages, who share the pain, sorrow, and endless worry. Their return for burial provides important closure for the family members, and efforts must be made to bring all the murdered hostages back to Israel.
“The recovery of their bodies is a silent but resolute reminder that the State of Israel is obligated to immediately dispatch negotiation teams with a clear demand to bring about a deal that will swiftly return all the hostages home: the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for burial.”
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement in Hebrew on his X account shortly after the IDF’s announcement.
“Together with the citizens of Israel, my wife Sara and I bow our heads in deep sorrow, and embrace the grieving families in their difficult time. We have a national and moral duty to do everything in our power to return our abducted – the lives and the spaces – and that is what we are doing,” he wrote.
“I praise the IDF forces and the security forces who acted with great courage in the heart of enemy territory, in order to return them to their families and to the grave of Israel.”
French President Emmanuel Macron also shared his condolences on X since Radoux was a citizen of the European country.
“I learned with immense sadness of the death of our compatriot Orión Hernández-Radoux, hostage of Hamas since October 7. I think of his family and those close to him. We are at their side. France remains more than ever committed to the release of all the hostages,” he wrote.
Hamas terrorists have been holding hostages in Gaza for the past 231 days.
As of Friday, the group is believed to have 125 hostages in its custody and 39 of them are considered to be dead, the IDF said.
Fox News’ Yonat Friling contributed to this report.
