All five had previously been declared dead by the army and their bodies were recovered in southern Gaza.
The Israeli army has announced that it has recovered the bodies of five captives during an operation in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
The army said Thursday that the bodies of kindergarten teacher Maya Goren, as well as soldiers Tomer Ahimas, Kiril Brodski, Ravid Aryeh Katz and Oren Goldin, the latter two reservists, had been returned to Israel.
Goren, 56, was killed in Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the communities targeted in the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7, according to Israeli Army Radio.
The others were killed in combat on October 7, according to the army. Katz was a member of the security team of Kibbutz Nir Oz.
The five bodies were recovered on Wednesday from the Khan Younis area, where Israeli forces launched new raids this week.
The Gaza government media office reported that at least 129 Palestinians were killed and hundreds wounded in the previous 48 hours in Khan Younis after Israel launched its latest attack and ordered residents to evacuate the area. Some 150,000 people were forced to flee.
'Deeply' disappointed
In a speech to the US Congress on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government was actively engaged in intensive efforts to free the remaining captives.
But the families of the eight American captives in Gaza said in a joint statement they were “deeply” disappointed that Netanyahu had offered no guarantees that the captives would return home.
Netanyahu “has not committed to the hostage deal now on the table despite calls from Israel’s top defense and intelligence officials to do so,” the families said.
They called on Netanyahu to close the deal “before it is too late.”
At least 39,145 people have been killed and 90,257 wounded in Israel's war on Gaza, according to the enclave's health ministry. The death toll in Israel from Hamas-led attacks is estimated at 1,139, with dozens of people still held captive in Gaza.
