Israeli army Merkava battle tanks deploy along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on October 13, 2023.ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images
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Israeli forces conducted localized raids on Friday ahead of a planned ground invasion
Bodies of hostages taken by Hamas have been found in the Gaza Strip by the Israel Defense Forces, officials said Friday on their authorized radio channel GLZ.
An estimated 150 Israelis and foreign nationals – including possibly some Americans – were abducted by the terror group during the terrorists’ initial attack on Israel last weekend.
It was not immediately clear how many bodies had been discovered on Friday.
The Israeli Public Broadcasting Company reported “several” bodies were found and brought back to Israel.
The discovery was made as the Israeli military conducted what it called “localized” raids, searching for Hamas militants and their captives ahead of a potential invasion. It was the first time Israeli forces put boots on the ground in Gaza after Saturday’s massacre by the terrorists.
Hamas said earlier on Friday 13 of the hostages taken have been killed in Israeli airstrikes over the past 24 hours.
The 13 dead appeared to be in addition to four hostages the terrorist group said were killed in bombings earlier this week, including a 19-year-old Israeli soldier.
During Friday’s raid, the IDF said it killed several Hamas members, including those involved in a cell that launched anti-tank missiles into Israel and also made “findings that may help in the effort to locate the missing.”
“We will continue to make every effort to find every detail about the missing and hostages,” an IDF spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said.
The operation in Gaza came as Israeli officials directed 1.1 million people – about half of the area’s population – to evacuate, indicating a possible invasion to come.
As of Friday, the death toll amongst both Israelis and Palestinians was at least 2,800, as the morgue at Gaza’s biggest hospital was left overflowing with bodies after days of Israeli counter strikes against Hamas.
