Bodies of 3 more hostages recovered from Gaza

Mourners pray over bodies of Palestinians, a day after they were killed by Israeli fire, in Deir al Balah. Pic/AFP

The bodies of three more hostages killed on October 7 were recovered overnight from Gaza, Israel's army said Friday, as the top United Nations court prepares to rule on whether Israel must halt its military operations and withdraw from the enclave.

The bodies of Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez Radoux were found and their families have been notified. The army said they were killed on the day of the attack at the Mefalsim intersection and their bodies were taken to Gaza. The announcement comes less than a week after the army said it found the bodies of three other Israeli hostages killed on October 7. Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducted around 250 others in the October 7 attack. Around half of those hostages have since been freed, most in swaps for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a weeklong cease-fire in November.

Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to both eliminate Hamas and bring all the hostages back, but he's made little progress. He faces pressure to resign, and the US has threatened to scale back its support over the humanitarian situation in Gaza. On Friday Netanyahu said the country had a duty to do everything to return those abducted, both those killed and those who are alive.

The country is also expecting a ruling Friday afternoon by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to decide on an urgent plea by South Africa to order Israel to cease operations. Israel is unlikely to comply with any such order. Even so, a cease-fire order by judges of the International Court of Justice would heap more pressure on an increasingly isolated Israel.

Hezbollah weapons maker killed in strike

Israel confirmed carrying out an airstrike in southern Lebanon which killed a prominent Hezbollah weapons producer on Thursday. Muhammad Ali Nasser Faran was responsible for manufacturing strategic and specialized weapons. The Israel Defence Forces released footage of the airstrike, which took place as Faran was driving in the area of Nabatieh in the morning. The IDF said that many Hezbollah weapons factories struck during the last several months were under Faran's command.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever