Bodies of Israeli hostages Orion Hernandez, Hanan Yablonka and Michel Nisenbaum found in Gaza

The three victims were killed on Oct. 7 as they attempted to flee the massacre

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The bodies of Orión Hernández Radoux (30), Hanan Yablonka (42) and Michel Nisenbaum (59), who had been held hostage by Hamas terrorists since Oct. 7, were recovered by the IDF in northern Gaza on Thursday.

According to “reliable intelligence,” the three were murdered during the Hamas massacre on Oct. 7, and their bodies were subsequently taken to the Gaza Strip by the terrorists, IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Daniel Hagari announced Friday.

IDF representatives informed their families on Thursday who, until today, had not received any indication that the bodies of their loved ones had been found and identified by medical officials at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine and the Israel Police.

Radoux, a Mexican-French citizen, was the boyfriend of the late Shani Louk, whose body was recovered last week together with three others. They attended the Nova Musical Festival near Kibbutz Re’im the weekend of the attack, along with Yablonka, a resident of Tel Aviv.

⁠Nisenbaum was from Sderot and drove to the IDF Gaza Division base on the morning of the attack to rescue his 4-year-old granddaughter, whose father was stationed there.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his condolences to the families, stating, “Together with Israel, my wife Sarah and I bow our heads in deep sorrow, and embrace the grieving families in their difficult time.”

“We have a national and moral duty to do everything we can to return our abducted - the live ones and the fallen - and that is what we are doing. I praise the IDF forces and the security forces who acted with great courage in the heart of enemy territory, in order to return them to their families and to a burial in Israel.”

According to reports, on the morning of Oct. 7, the three victims were ambushed by terrorists at a road junction near Kibbutz Mefalsim, where they fled.

"The sad return of Michel, Hanan and Orión is another heartbreak for the 125 families of the abductees, who share the pain, sorrow and never-ending worry," stated the Hostage and Missing Families Forum.

"The rescue of their bodies is a silent but firm reminder that the State of Israel is obligated to send out the negotiation teams today with a clear demand to bring about a deal that will bring all the hostages home quickly: The living for rehabilitation and the murdered for burial," the forum stated.

The IDF confirmed that only in the last week did they receive intelligence information indicating both the deaths and the locations where the bodies were being held.

IDF soldiers of the 7th Armored Brigade discovered the tunnel shaft based on intelligence guidance after a gun battle in the northern Gaza town of Jabaliya, Subsequently, elite forces of the combat engineering commando Yahalom and the intelligence service Shin Bet arrived to retrieve the bodies from the underground location.

No casualties to Israeli forces were reported during the operation to retrieve the bodies. The IDF added that the underground compound is close to the site where four other hostage bodies were recovered last week.

The IDF has so far succeeded in retrieving 16 bodies of Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip.

There now remain 125 Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, of whom 40 have already been declared deceased by Israeli authorities.