REUTERS/Ricardo MoraesIsraeli forces recovered on Wednesday the bodies of five hostages killed in Hamas' Oct 7 attack and held in Gaza since, the Israeli military said. The other four hostages were two reserve soldiers and two conscript soldiers killed in combat during the Oct 7 attack, the military said. Their bodies were retrieved from the area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where Israeli forces launched new raids this week. In a speech to the US Congress on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government was actively engaged in intensive efforts to release the remaining hostages which he was confident would succeed. Hamas wants a ceasefire agreement to end the war in Gaza, but Netanyahu says the war cannot end before Hamas is defeated.
