The bodies of six hostages were recovered from the Gaza Strip in an overnight operation, the Israeli military said on Tuesday morning.

The military said that their corpses were found in the city of Khan Younis in the south of the coastal territory, the military said.

It stated that families of the six men have been informed.

Media reports noted that five of the men were between 35 and 80 years old.

Several had already previously been declared dead by the army.

The report said that they were all alive when they were abducted.

According to Israel’s count, the Palestinian militant organisation Hamas still holds 109 hostages, many of whom are likely no longer alive.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently trying to broker an agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict and the release of the hostages.

Blinken said on Monday that Israel had accepted a U.S.-supported proposal to bridge differences between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas, however, has not yet agreed to it.

Hamas and other Palestinian militants abducted a total of 253 people from Israel into Gaza on October 7.

Some of them were freed through a prisoner exchange, and a few hostages were able to be rescued by the Israeli army albeit at high cost.

The Israeli army did that to the Palestinian civilian population during these military operations, for which Israel has faced international criticism.

(dpa/NAN)