��������

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that Israel's forces recovered the remains of two additional hostages held in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on southern Israel that launched the war in Gaza.The Palestinian death toll from the 20-month Israel-Hamas war has climbed past 55,000, the Gaza Health Ministry said Wednesday.The Gaza Health Ministry doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants, but has said that women and children make up more than half the 55,000 dead. Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of hiding among civilians, because they operate in populated areas.The ministry says 55,104 people have been killed since the start of the war and 127,394 wounded. Many more are believed to be buried under the rubble or in areas that are inaccessible to local medics.The Health Ministry is part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, but staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records. Its tolls from previous conflicts have largely aligned with those of independent experts, though Israel has questioned the ministry's figures.Netanyahu’s office identified the remains of one of the hostages recovered Wednesday as Yair Yaakov, who was killed during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack. The identity of the second hostage whose body was recovered was not immediately disclosed.Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the bodies were retrieved in a “complex�� operation without disclosing details.Israeli forces have destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced about 90% of its population and in recent weeks have transformed more than half of the coastal territory into a military buffer zone that includes the now mostly uninhabited southern city of Rafah.