CAIRO — Israel’s military said Saturday it had recovered the body of a 47-year-old farmer who was held hostage in Gaza, while negotiators prepared to begin another round of talks Sunday on brokering a cease-fire and securing the release of the remaining hostages, six months into the war.
Israel’s army said it had found the body of Elad Katzir and believed he was killed in January by militants with Islamic Jihad, one of the groups that entered southern Israel in the Oct. 7 attack, killed more than 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. Katzir had been abducted from Nir Oz, a border community that suffered some of the heaviest losses.
The discovery renewed pressure on Israel’s government for a deal to get the remaining hostages freed, as families have long feared khbrknews is running out. At least 36 hostages in captivity have been confirmed dead. About half of the original number have been released.
Meanwhile, the toll of Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza is measured in tens of thousands of deaths and more than a million Palestinians displaced.
“We have arrived at a terrible milestone,” the U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement marking six months and noting “the immediate prospect of a shameful man-made famine.” He called the prospect of further escalation in Gaza “unconscionable.”
Israelis are divided on the approach by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government after multiple rounds of stalled cease-fire negotiations. A week ago, tens of thousands of Israelis thronged central Jerusalem in the largest anti-government protest since the war began.
Negotiations will resume on Sunday, according to an Egyptian official and Egypt’s state-owned Al Qahera TV. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the talks.
U.S. President Joe Biden has sent CIA Director Bill Burns to Egypt. And a Hamas delegation will arrive on Sunday to join the talks, the militant group said.
