The Israeli military said Friday, May 22, its forces had retrieved the bodies of three hostages in an overnight operation in the northern Gaza Strip's Jabalia. The bodies of Israeli hostage Chanan Yablonka, Brazilian-Israeli Michel Nisenbaum and French-Mexican Orion Hernandez Radoux "were rescued overnight" and their families were notified after forensic identification, the military said in a statement.

Both Yablonka, 42, and Hernandez Radoux, 32, were abducted from a music festival when Hamas militants stormed southern Israel from Gaza on October 7, triggering the ongoing war.

Nisenbaum, a 59-year-old from the Israeli city of Sderot near Gaza, was last contacted on his way to an army base on the border to pick up his granddaughter on the day of the attack. He had been on the phone with family members when the line was cut. A person speaking Arabic then answered a call from one of his daughters.

Avivit Yablonka, the 48-year-old sister of Chanan, had told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday she "feared bad news" since the bodies of other hostages were returned last week. A divorced father of two, according to Avivit, Yablonka had decided to go to the festival with four friends at the last minute. They had tried to escape the attack in a car. The bodies of his four friends – including former Israeli international footballer Lior Assouline – were found and identified near the vehicle.

Hernandez Radoux was the boyfriend of 22-year-old Israeli-German dual national Shani Louk, who was filmed on October 7 lying face down in the back of a pick-up truck filled with gunmen. The Israeli army announced Monday it had found her body in Jabalia last week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under increasing domestic pressure to secure the release of remaining hostages, said in a statement Friday that "together with the Israeli people, my wife Sara and I bow our heads in deep sorrow and embrace the grieving families in their difficult time."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on social media platform X that "our broken hearts go out to the Yablonka, Hernandez, and Nisenbaum families" after the news that their bodies had been recovered.