Israel recovers six hostages' bodies as Gazan vaccination drive begins

The Israeli military announced the recovery of six bodies from underground in the southern city of Rafah as a mass polio vaccination campaign began in the war-shattered territory and violence flared in the occupied West Bank. 

Hostage bodies recovered underground in Rafah

The bodies of six hostages have been recovered in southern Gaza where they were apparently killed not long before Israeli troops reached them, according to the Israeli military. 

"According to our initial estimation, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists a short time before we reached them," military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.

The victims include Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23; and Israelis Ori Danino, 25; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Almog Sarusi, 27; and Alexander Lobanov, 33. They were all taken from a music festival in southern Israel during Hamas's October 7 attack, which triggered the war. The sixth hostage, Carmel Gat, 40, was abducted from the nearby farming community of Be'eri.

The Israeli military said the bodies were recovered from a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, around a kilometer (half a mile) from where another hostage, Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, was rescued alive last week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under pressure to reach a deal that includes a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages, said Israel would not rest until it caught those responsible.

"Whoever murders hostages - does not want a deal," he said.

Senior Hamas officials said that Israel was to blame for the deaths as it refused to sign a ceasefire agreement. 

"Netanyahu is responsible for the killing of Israeli prisoners," senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said. "The Israelis should choose between Netanyahu and the deal."

Vaccination campaign targets 640,000 children

The United Nations, in collaboration with Palestinian health authorities, have begun to vaccinate some 640,000 children in the Gaza Strip on Sunday.

Israel and Hamas have agreed to pause fighting for at least eight hours daily from Sunday to Tuesday to allow the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO) and Palestinian medics to safely vaccinate children.

There were initial reports of Israeli strikes in central Gaza early Sunday, but it was not immediately known if anyone was killed or wounded.

"This is the first few hours of the first phase of a massive campaign, one of the most complex in the world," said Juliette Touma, communications director of UNRWA, the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency.

Authorities plan to vaccinate children in central Gaza until Wednesday before moving on to the more devastated northern and southern parts of the strip. 

The campaign comes after the WHO confirmed last month that a baby was partially paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years. 

WHO officials say at least 90 per cent of the children need to be vaccinated twice with four weeks between doses for the campaign to succeed. 

Three Israelis killed in West Bank attack

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli officials said on Sunday that three Israelis had been killed when their vehicle came under fire near the city of Hebron.

The police confirmed that all three killed were officers and said the attackers had slipped away. Militant group Khalil al-Rahman Brigade claimed responsibility, with Hamas praising the attack as a “natural response” to the war in Gaza.

"We call on all those who carry weapons to direct their bullets at the chests of the occupiers who continue to commit massacres against our people in Gaza Strip," Hamas’ statement said.

Hundreds of Israeli troops have been carrying out raids across the West Bank since Wednesday in one of their largest actions in the area in months, which Israel says is aimed at rooting out Islamist militants. 

Speaking at the United Nations, China's deputy permanent representative, Geng Shuang, expressed shock and deep concern over recent comments by Israeli officials suggesting they will take similar actions in the West Bank as in Gaza. 

"We must not allow the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza to be repeated in the West Bank and turn the West Bank into another hell on earth," he said. 

The West Bank has seen a surge in violence since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, with more than 650 Palestinians killed, mainly during Israeli military arrest raids. 

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