The Israeli military announced the recovery of the bodies of three hostages abducted during the attack on October 7 from the Palestinian territory, where intense fighting continued on Friday.
The announcement of the discovery preceded a judgment by the International Court of Justice, the UN's highest judicial body, in a case accusing Israel of 'genocide'.
On the ground, witnesses and AFP reported air and naval strikes in Gaza City overnight, with at least five people killed in the Al Daraj neighborhood when a family home was hit. In Jabalia, in the north of the Gaza Strip, where urban combat has reignited months after Israeli operations began, the army stated that it had retrieved the bodies of three hostages during a night-time operation.
The three hostages, Chanan Yablonka from Israel, Michel Nisenbaum from Brazil and Orion Hernandez Radoux from France and Mexico, were 'murdered' during the October 7 attack, and their bodies were taken into Gaza, according to the military.
This follows the discovery last week of four bodies of hostages found in tunnels under Jabalia, including the girlfriend of Hernandez Radoux, Shani Louk.
The military reported raids in Jabalia and operations in central Gaza, with the elimination of 'dozens of terrorists' in the north.
A Palestinian security source informed AFP that there were clashes between Israeli forces and militants in the town of Jabalia and its refugee camp, with another source stating that Kamal Adwan hospital was 'out of service' and had 14 medical staff trapped inside. Al Awda and Kamal Adwan are the last two functioning hospitals in northern Gaza, both of which are besieged, as per the World Health Organization.
Other facilities across Gaza are facing critical shortages of medical supplies and fuel to power generators, according to UN and Palestinian officials.
In early May, Israel launched an assault on Rafah, the last Gazan city to be entered by its ground troops, defying global opposition and causing over 800,000 people to flee, according to UN figures.
Troops took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, further delaying the sporadic arrival of much-needed aid for Gaza's 2.4 million people.
Speaking as a military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari stated that 'we will not stop fighting' for the freedom of hostages 'being held by Hamas in living hell'.
Netanyahu, under increasing domestic pressure to secure the release of captives still held by Palestinian militants, is set to 'soon' address the US Congress, as announced by House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday.
The United States, a staunch ally of Israel during the war, has witnessed President Joe Biden increasingly urging Netanyahu to reduce the violence, threatening to halt arms supplies amid a rising civilian death toll.
An AFP photographer witnessed a group of Israeli activists rallying outside the US consulate in Jerusalem, calling for 'Free Gaza' and to 'Stop arming genocide', before being removed by security forces.
Anti-occupation groups Free Jerusalem and All That's Left reported the detention of seven activists, including five US citizens, at the protest at Oxford University, where British police arrested 16 people in the latest flare-up on Western campuses over the war.