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Israel-Gaza latest: IDF confirms 'decline in forces' in southern Gaza - BBC News Israel-Gaza latest: IDF confirms 'decline in forces' in southern Gaza - BBC News
(32 minutes later)
As we’ve been reporting, 253 people were taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October.
As a reminder, it's six months to the day since Hamas fighters broke through from Gaza into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking hundreds hostage on 7 October. Of these, 109 have been released as part of prisoner exchanges or in separate deals and three have been rescued by the Israeli army.
In response, Israel vowed to "crush and destroy Hamas" so that it no longer posed any threat, and to bring all the hostages home. Over 33,000 people have been killed during Israel's offensive in Gaza since then. About 130 remain unaccounted for, at least 34 of whom are presumed dead. The bodies of 12 hostages have been recovered, including three that the IDF admitted to accidentally killing in one of their operations.
At the Nova music festival, which was taking place near Kibbutz Re’im, 364 young people were killed and 40 taken hostage. The most recent of these was recovered yesterday, when the Israeli army announced it had returned the body of Elad Katzir from the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza.
In the days following the attack, the BBC pieced together the events at the festival using video, social media posts and facial recognition technology. Hamas says the number of dead hostages is higher than this as a result of IDF air strikes, but it is not possible to verify these allegations.
Footage revealed murder at point blank range, beatings and kidnappings, all being repeated over and over again. The two youngest hostages taken in the Hamas attacks were Ariel and Kfir, who were 4 years and 9 months old respectively at the time of their abduction. Their deaths have been reported, but not confirmed.
It's impossible to know if Hamas fighters knew the festival was taking place at that location - but they would surely have heard the music reverberating across the quiet countryside. The BBC has put together stories of those hostages who are still being held, which have either been confirmed by the BBC or credibly reported
We also know that, whether they found the site by accident or not, they came prepared to kill. Gili Yoskovich, who was among hundreds of young people at the festival, told BBC News how the militants "were everywhere with automatic weapons" and how she heard more weapons being unloaded from a van.
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