Israel on Thursday recovered the bodies of two hostages who were abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre that ignited the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on X that the remains of Gadi Haggai and Judy Weinstein-Haggai had been returned in a special operation by the army and the Shin Bet internal security agency.

“Together with all the citizens of Israel, my wife and I extend our heartfelt condolences to the dear families. Our hearts ache for the most terrible loss. May their memory be blessed,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

Kibbutz Nir Oz announced the deaths of Weinstein and Haggai, both in their early 70s, in December 2023. 

The couple were taking an early morning walk near their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on the morning of Oct. 7 when Hamas militants burst across the border into Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251.

In the early hours of the morning, Weinstein was able to call emergency services and let them know that both she and her husband had been shot and send a message to her family.

The couple were survived by two sons and two daughters and seven grandchildren, the kibbutz said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates. 

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation claims aid distribution sites have been closed to carry out ‘maintenance’ work.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – a shadowy organisation backed by the United States and Israel – will not immediately resume distributing aid in the war-torn territory after a full-day closure on Wednesday, saying that operations will restart when maintenance and repair work on its distribution sites is complete.

In a statement posted on Facebook, the GHF said its “distribution sites will not open as early as” Thursday morning and that it would “share information on opening times as soon as work is complete”.

The GHF also strongly urged aid seekers travelling to its locations to “follow the routes” set by the Israeli military to “ensure safe passage”.

The Israeli military warned Palestinians on Wednesday not to approach GHF aid distribution sites while “reorganisation work” was under way, saying that access roads to those locations would be “considered combat zones”.

Israel’s military has not apparently issued any new directive regarding the safety of the GHF distribution sites as they remain closed for a second day.

The suspension of GHF’s distribution of food supplies in Gaza comes after Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians seeking aid for a fourth time near a GHF distribution site in Rafah, southern Gaza, early on Tuesday.

The Israeli attack killed at least 27 people and injured about 90 more, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

On Sunday, Israeli forces opened fire on thousands of aid seekers near the same site in Rafah, killing at least 31 people and wounding more than 150, according to Gaza’s Civil Defence agency. One person was also shot dead at another aid distribution site, south of the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, on the same day.

Then, on Monday, three more people were killed and about 30 injured when Israeli forces again opened fire near the GHF’s Rafah distribution site.

‘Unprecedented’ mass casualty incidents

The Israeli military had denied reports its troops shot at civilians near or within the GHF aid distribution site on Sunday, saying its forces only fired warning shots at people who were not using “designated access routes”.

Israeli army spokesperson Effie Defrin then claimed that soldiers only fired towards people who “were approaching in a way that endangered” the troops.

The GHF, which began chaotic aid distribution operations on May 26, has also labelled reports of aid seekers being killed in large numbers “outright fabrications”, claiming it has yet to see evidence of an attack at or near its facilities.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has confirmed that it received a “mass casualty influx of 179 cases” after Sunday’s attack, including 21 patients who were “declared dead upon arrival”. Women and children were among the casualties, the group said, with the majority suffering “gunshot or shrapnel wounds”.

The ICRC has also warned that Palestinians in Gaza are facing an “unprecedented scale and frequency of recent mass casualty incidents”.

Reports of aid seekers being killed by Israeli forces over recent days have led to international outrage, with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanding an independent inquiry into the deaths and for “perpetrators to be held accountable”.

The United Kingdom on Wednesday called for an “immediate and independent investigation” into the deadly incidents. UK Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer said the deaths were “deeply disturbing”, and called Israel’s new aid delivery measures “inhumane”.

Israel continues to push ahead with its wider assault on Gaza, with at least 48 people killed in attacks across the Strip on Wednesday, according to Gaza’s Civil Defence. Among the casualties were at least 18 people killed in a strike on a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in southern Khan Younis.

At least 54,418 Palestinians have been killed and 124,190 wounded since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, according to statistics from the enclave’s Health Ministry.

On Wednesday, the United States once again vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution demanding unhindered humanitarian aid access across Gaza and an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire”.