Israeli military retrieves bodies of six hostages from Gaza

JERUSALEM, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Israel retrieved the bodies of six hostages from the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza, the military said on Tuesday, as negotiations continued in an effort to bring back more than 100 who remain in the besieged enclave.

The return of the six bodies leaves 109 hostages still believed to be in Gaza, around a third of whom are thought to be dead, with the fate of the others unknown.

The return of the bodies came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to meet officials in Egypt as he continues a visit to the region aimed at bridging differences between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas over a deal to end the fighting in Gaza and return the hostages.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the bodies of Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Abraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Chaim Peri were recovered from tunnels under Khan Younis in southern Gaza after a "complex operation."

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"We will continue working to achieve the goals of this war - returning the hostages to Israel and dismantling Hamas," he said in a statement.

The Hostages Families Forum, an organisation that represents most hostage families, welcomed the news but renewed its call on the government to conclude a hostage release deal with Hamas.

"The immediate return of the remaining 109 hostages can only be achieved through a negotiated deal. The Israeli government, with the assistance of mediators, must do everything in its power to finalise the deal currently on the table," it said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced heavy criticism from many of the hostage families for failing to secure a deal, said the government would keep working to bring back the hostages still left in Gaza.

"The state of Israel will continue to make every effort to return all our hostages - the living and the dead," he said in a statement.

Most of the hostages in Gaza were seized by Hamas gunmen as they rampaged through communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners and abducting around 250 as hostages. In addition, Hamas was already holding two Israeli citizens who entered Gaza around a decade ago as well as the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.

Since Oct. 7, Israel's military has levelled swathes of the Palestinian enclave, driving nearly all of its 2.3 million people from their homes and killing at least 40,000, according to Palestinian health authorities.

(Reporting by Maytaal Angel and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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