The Israeli military announced on Tuesday morning that it recovered the bodies of six hostages from the Gaza Strip during an overnight operation.
The corpses were found in Khan Younis, a city in the southern part of the coastal territory. The families of the six men have been notified.
According to reports, the ages of the men ranged from 35 to 80 years old. Some had previously been declared dead by the military, though they were alive at the time of their abduction.
As of now, Israel reports that the Palestinian militant group Hamas is still holding 109 hostages, though many are feared to be dead.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently attempting to negotiate a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict and secure the release of the remaining hostages. While Israel has accepted a U.S.-supported proposal to bridge the gap between Israel and Hamas, Hamas has yet to agree to it.
On October 7, Hamas and other Palestinian militants abducted a total of 253 people from Israel and took them into Gaza. Some hostages were later freed through a prisoner exchange, and a few were rescued by the Israeli army, although these operations have come at a significant cost, particularly to the Palestinian civilian population, for which Israel has faced international criticism.
