The IDF on Wednesday recovered the bodies of five hostages from Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.

They were identified as:

Sgt.-Maj. (res) Ravid Aryeh Katz, hy”d,  51, was a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz, an educator, a father of three children, and a member of the kibbutz’s emergency response squad. He was killed battling the terrorists on the kibbutz on October 7 and his body was abducted to Gaza.

Maya Goren hy”d, 56, was abducted into Gaza by Hamas terrorists on October 7. The IDF had previously confirmed in December that Goren was no longer alive, but it wasn’t clear whether she was killed in captivity or murdered during the massacre and her body brought to Gaza.

Oren Goldin hy”d, 33, was a member of Kibbutz Nir Yitzchak’s emergency response squad. He fell in battle against Hamas terrorists on October 7th, and his body was abducted into Gaza.

Staff Sgt. Tomer Yaakov Ahimas hy”d, 20, has also been recovered from Gaza and returned to Israel, according to the head of the local council in his hometown of Lehavim. Ahimas, an IDF soldier, was killed in action on October 7, along with other members of the forward command team led by Col. Asaf Hamami, commander of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade. The team was engaged in combat with Hamas terrorists near Kibbutz Nirim when Ahimas and two other soldiers were fatally wounded. Their remains were then taken into Gaza by Hamas forces.

Sgt. Kiril Brodski, 19, was confirmed to have been killed on October 7 and his body abducted to Gaza. He was murdered alongside the aforementioned Ahimas during the battle at Kibbutz Nirim.

Were it not for their bravery, the kibbutz would have suffered an even greater tragedy that day.

According to YWN sources, Hamas terrorists arrested in recent weeks provided Israeli intelligence with information that led them to relaunch an operation in Khan Younis, which resulted now in the recovery of the hostages’ bodies.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)