The Israeli army announced on Tuesday that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages from the southern Gaza Strip area of Khan Younis in collaboration with the Shin Bet internal security agency. The hostages included Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, Chaim Perry, who had been previously declared deceased, and Avraham Munder, whose death was confirmed earlier by his kibbutz, Nir Oz, near Gaza. After conducting intelligence and forensic analyses, the military informed the families of the deceased hostages without disclosing specifics about the operation in Khan Younis. The retrieval of the bodies offers the families closure and ensures the deceased rest in peace, according to a statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. The forum urged the Israeli government to secure the return of the remaining hostages through a negotiated agreement. It emphasized the need for the government, with the help of mediators, to finalize the existing deal. Mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and the United States are pushing for a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which would facilitate the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Earlier on Tuesday, Kibbutz Nir Oz had announced the tragic death of Munder, aged 79, who had endured months of physical and mental torture in captivity. Among the six bodies recovered, Metzger, Perry, and Dancyg were also residents of Nir Oz, a community severely affected by the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel. On that day, Palestinian militants kidnapped Munder, his wife, daughter, and grandson; the other family members were released during a week-long truce in November, while his son was killed on the day of the attack. The Hamas assault led to the deaths of 1,199 individuals in Israel, predominantly civilians, according to figures from AFP based on Israeli official data. Of the 251 people taken hostage, 105 remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip, including 34 whom the military believes are deceased. Israel's retaliatory military actions have resulted in the deaths of 40,139 Palestinians in Gaza, as reported by the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant casualties. The majority of the deceased in Gaza are women and children, according to the UN human rights office.