Bodies of hostages recovered by IDF, IDF responds to Hezbollah drone footage showing IDF base

The IDF recovered the body of hostage Maya Goren, 56, in a military operation in Gaza on Wednesday.

Goren is from Kibbutz Nir Oz; the community issued a statement saying: "After over nine months, she was brought back home for burial. The family was updated in the last few hours about the operation.

"She will be buried next to her husband Avner Goren, who was murdered on October 7."

Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak announced that the body of hostage Oren Goldin, a member of the Kibbutz's emergency standby squad who was killed and taken hostage on October 7, was recovered and returned to Israel by the IDF.

"Tonight, we were informed of the rescue operation of the late Oren Goldin, a member of the kibbutz's emergency squad, who fell on October 7."

The Kibbutz's statement spoke of Goldin's bravery in the early hours of October 7. 

The Israeli negotiating delegation has postponed its departure to Qatar until next week for talks to reach a ceasefire-hostage release deal.

Reacting to Hezbollah publishing drone footage on Wednesday morning claiming to show the IDF Ramat David base, the IDF later stated that the video was filmed by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) solely for photography purposes and that the base's operations were not impacted.

The IDF and the Air Force within it are operating against Hezbollah's aerial array and have attacked hundreds of targets from this array in recent months, the IDF continued in its statement.

The Israel Air Force (IAF) struck a Hezbollah military building and an observation post in the area of Tayr Harfa in southern Lebanon, the IDF reported Wednesday. 

In addition, the IAF struck Hezbollah observation posts in Khilat al-Daba and Kfarkela.

The Reserve Brigade of the northern Command completed earlier this week an exercise simulating combat scenarios in Lebanon, the military said on Wednesday. 

Troops trained for combat scenarios on complex terrain, advancing in mountainous areas and opening fire.   

The forces also conducted exercises simulating the under-fire evacuation of wounded from battle zones along with logistical aspects of combat. 

Leaks continue to stream out about the various IDF probes into the failure to block Hamas's invasion on October 7, with the latest revelation Tuesday night being that one primary reason for the failure was the substantial success the military had in blocking Hamas's attempted smaller scale invasion in May 2021.

The Jerusalem Post has been told this in prior off-record discussions with top defense officials. Still, Channel 12 became the first outlet on Tuesday night to confirm that this issue is highlighted in the draft report, which still has yet to come out but is expected in late August or early Fall.

In May 2021, Hamas made a number of smaller-scale attempts to invade southern Israel, but the mix of forces and advanced sensors on the border helped easily thwart them. This inflated the IDF's confidence that Hamas had no chance at pulling off even a small-scale invasion, the IDF report will say.

IDF troops, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), and Yamam fighters arrested five terrorists during an overnight operation in the West Bank, the various security organizations said in a joint statement. 

Among them were two individuals, residents of Seida, suspected of carrying out the terror attack near Hermesh on July 18, 2024.

During the operation, Yamam fighters shot and hit one of the suspects in the terror attack, after which they arrested an additional three terrorists. 

A ship with 514 containers of goods and another with about 20,000,000 kg. of iron arrived at Yemen's Hodeidah port, The National News reported on Wednesday, citing the director of maritime operations at the Houthi-run port Mohammed Al Sayes.

Following the ships arrival on Tuesday, Sayes announced, "The port of Hodeidah is functioning normally around the clock to receive all ships."

IDF troops operated in the Bani Suheila area of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip, where Egoz forces identified a vehicle in which was a terror cell advancing towards them, the military said on Wednesday.

In a joint operation, aircrafts of the Israel Air Force and tanks struck and killed the terrorists.

Further in Khan Yunis, troops of the 7th Brigade, paratroopers, and commando forces found an underground route and killed terrorists, most of whom were snipers, the IDF noted. 

In Rafah, troops of the 162nd Divison found weapons, raided terror infrastructure and eliminated terrorists who posed a threat to the forces.

In parallel, jets struck dozens of terror targets across Gaza, among which were observation posts and military buildings.