The Latest: Israel says bodies of 2 hostages returned as military begins Gaza City offensive

Gaza City is now a dangerous combat zone Israel says adding that it is in the initial stages of a planned offensive that has drawn international condemnation Israel s military mentioned it suspended midday pauses to fighting which had allowed food and aid supplies to enter from a m to p m in Gaza s largest city It also explained it had recovered the body of a hostage and the remains of another and vowed its military offensive would return more The shift comes weeks after Israel first stated plans to widen its offensive in Gaza City where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering and enduring famine Here s the latest Gaza Vitality Ministry reports more deaths due to starvation and malnutrition The Vitality Ministry in Gaza noted five people have died from starvation and malnutrition over the past hours That raises the total number of deaths from such causes to including children The Wellbeing Ministry disclosed that people included six children have died since Aug when the Integrated Food Protection Phase Classification declared a famine in Gaza Gaza war death toll rises to ministry The Gaza Fitness Ministry stated Thursday that the death toll in Gaza has risen to in the -month war between Israel and Hamas The toll surpassed as Palestinians faced the start of Israel s latest offensive in Gaza City The count does not distinguish between fighters and civilians The ministry is part of the Hamas-run authorities and staffed by curative professionals The U N and independent experts consider it the preponderance reliable source on war casualties Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own Father of hostage calls recovery operation a bittersweet moment Israel s recovery of more hostages Friday felt like a stab in the stomach for Rubi Chen who believes his son is still in captivity in Gaza Israel stated it had returned the body of one captive and the remains of another from Gaza Friday It identified one as Ilan Weiss a man killed in the initial Hamas attack It s a bittersweet moment that the Weiss family is reunited with their loved one even though he s coming back not as they would have desired announced Chen But at least they have closure there are still families waiting to have that closure Chen announced his family has received intelligence that his son did not survive the Oct attack but Hamas has not provided any information about his son s whereabouts Netanyahu details hostage recovery operation The Israeli prime minister commented the body of a dead Israeli and the remains of another were recovered following an operation in the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces and the country s internal safety operation Shin Bet Netanyahu revealed Friday one set of remains belongs to Ilan Weiss who was killed on Oct while defending Kibbutz Be eri against attacking Hamas gunmen The remains of the second Israeli are now being examined for positive identification at the Institute of Forensic Medicine Weiss wife Shiri and daughter Noga also kidnapped in the Hamas attack were issued from captivity in November He has two other daughters The Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum declared the return of all hostages remains the highest national priority and urged the Israeli governing body to enter into negotiations and stay at the table until every last hostage comes home Israeli military says attack on Gaza City will intensify A spokesman for the Israeli military says the country s forces have started their attack on Gaza City which are operating with great force on the city s outskirts Avichay Adraee the Arabic-speaking spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces posted on X Friday that the military operation is in its initial phase but that the Israeli military will intensify our strikes and will not hesitate until all Israeli hostages are returned and Hamas is dismantled militarily and politically Adraee explained Israel is not waiting and is moving ahead with its attack against Hamas which has transformed from a military organization into a defeated organization waging guerrilla warfare UN agency warns of horrific impact on Palestinians in Gaza City The U N s humanitarian agency mentioned they were deeply concerned by the military s report that it would intensify its operation in Gaza City It predicted that the offensive would have a horrific impact on people already exhausted malnourished bereaved displaced and deprived of basics needed for survival It noted UN and NGO teams would remain on the ground in Gaza City to provide life-saving sponsorship but maintained that its work would need to be facilitated Israel says hostage bodies recovered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu s office disclosed in a comment that the body of Ilan Weiss of Kibbutz Be eri and the remains of another unnamed hostage were returned to Israel The campaign to return the hostages continues continuously We will not rest or be silent until we return all of our hostages home both the living and the dead Netanyahu reported Israel on Friday mentioned its military had recovered the bodies of two hostages including an Israeli man who was killed in the Oct attack that sparked the war Of the hostages taken by Hamas-led militants almost months ago roughly remain in Gaza including that Israel believes to be alive Israeli military begins Gaza City offensive Israel declared Gaza s largest city a dangerous combat zone and declared it was in the initial stages of a planned offensive that has drawn international condemnation The suspension comes weeks after Israel first disclosed plans to widen its offensive in Gaza City where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering and enduring famine people are now sheltering inside Gaza s only Catholic church spokesman says A spokesman for Gaza s only Catholic church declared particular people who have taken shelter there had unanimously agreed to stay despite word that Israel was preparing to mount a new military offensive in the Palestinian territory Farid Jubran advised The Associated Press Friday that their decision to stay in Gaza City s Holy Family Catholic Church was made of their own free will and wasn t imposed on the people He noted five clergy have also stayed in the church to assist those sheltering that include women children and older people But Jubran who is right now outside of Gaza disclosed it s up to them if they want to leave the church at certain point later The spokesman declared there are no additional measures that have been taken inside the church to bolster the safety of the people He mentioned when we feel danger people get closer to the walls or whatever it s more protected but that the church doesn t have any specific defenses Source