Bodies of three hostages killed on October 7 recovered in Gaza

The bodies of three hostages taken from Israel after they were killed on October 7 were recovered in an overnight military operation in Gaza, the Israeli army and a group representing hostage families said on Friday.

Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orión Hernández Radoux were killed on the day of the Hamas massacres in Israel and then taken across the border to Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

They were brought back to Israel after a joint operation by the army and the intelligence services in Jabalia, in northern Gaza.

“We will continue operating to bring all of our hostages back home,” the IDF said in a statement.

The Hostage Families Forum said the return of the three men was “another heartbreak.

“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,” it said.

Ms Radoux, 30, and Mr Yablonka, a 42-year-old from Tel Aviv, had been attending the Nova electronic music festival, where the attackers killed hundreds of revellers, army spokesman Daniel Hagari and the forum said.

According to the forum, Ms Radoux, a Mexican-French citizen, was the partner of German-Israeli Shani Louk.

Her body was found a week ago in the Gaza Strip. She was also murdered on October 7.

Mr Nisenbaum was a 59-year-old Israeli-Brazilian citizen from the southern Israel city of Sderot, Mr Hagari said.

Of the 250 people taken hostage, around 125 are believed to still be held captive in Gaza.

At least a third of them are presumed dead.

US confirms first aid trucks arrive via Gaza pier

The US military has confirmed that the first aid shipment via a temporary pier off Gaza has gone ashore.

US Central Command confirmed in a post on X that the aid trucks began moving ashore at about 0900 local time (0700 BST).

“This is an ongoing, multinational effort to deliver additional aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza via a maritime corridor that is entirely humanitarian in nature,” the post read, adding that no US troops went ashore.

The US began building the floating base weeks ago to facilitate the delivery of aid to Gaza as Israel continues its military campaign against Hamas.

On Wednesday, it was reported that hundreds of tonnes of aid had arrived in Cyprus, where screening takes place before being loaded on to ships for delivery to the pier.

Vice Adm Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command, said commercial ships would collect pallets from Cyprus and deliver them to a floating platform anchored several kilometres off the coast of Gaza.

Smaller US military vessels, capable of carrying between five and 15 lorries of aid, will then transport it to a floating pier, several hundred metres long, fixed to the beach in Gaza.

Lorries will travel along the pier before dropping off the aid at a marshalling yard on the beach.

Authorities said that the UN, primarily the World Food Programme, will be responsible for the onward distribution of aid.