The Israeli army confirmed the death of five hostages who was being held in the Gaza Strip, announced today his representative, Mr Daniel Hagariclarifying that he informed the families.

“Over the past few days, the Israeli army and police informed the families of hostages Eliyahu Margalit, Maya Goren, Ronen Engel and Arie Zalmanovitch of their deaths,” he said during a press conference.

“A committee of experts from the Ministry of Health, the Forensic Institute, the Grand Rabbinate and the Ministry of Religious Affairs established their deaths based on (investigation) conclusions and information from the secret services,” he explained.

Also, “during a joint operation with the Shin Bet (internal security agency), based on specific information, we brought back the body of hostage Ofir Jarfati for burial in Israel,” he added.

Of the nearly 240 people kidnapped on October 7 during Hamas’ unprecedented deadly offensive in southern Israel and taken to the Gaza Strip, 137 are still being held there, Israeli authorities announced earlier.

Fighting and shelling resumed this morning in the Gaza Strip after a week of ceasefire.

In retaliation for the October 7 attack, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli authorities, Israel launched a massive bombardment of Gaza, followed by a ground operation.

Israeli operations have killed more than 15,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007.