The Israeli army says it has recovered the bodies of a murdered woman and soldiers whose bodies were held hostage by Hamas.
The Israeli Defense Forces identified the hostage as Maya Goren. The soldiers were identified as MSG (Res.) Oren Goldin, SSGT Tomer Ahimas, SGT Kiril Brodski and SGM (Res.) Ravid Aryeh Katz.
The bodies were rescued from the Khan Yunis area, according to the IDF.
The military said it was determined that Maya Goren was murdered, and the soldiers died during fighting on October 7 and their bodies were abducted into Gaza.
Goren was a kindergarten teacher in Kibbutz Nir Oz. She was murdered and her body kidnapped into Hamas captivity for nine months.
"There was a loving, optimistic, energetic and dedicated woman. Both in her personal and family life, in her community life and most importantly in her educational work, she did everything with love, care and dedication," her son Gal Goren said in a statement.
He said she will be buried next to husband who was also killed in the attack.
"I thank the brave security forces who returned her to the burial," Goren said.
The IDF says some of the intelligence to find the bodies came from "terrorist interrogations."
The military says it will continue to work to rescuing all of the remaining hostages. There are an estimated 120 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza.
