Israel: Bodies of 2 hostages found near Al-Shifa hospital

Israeli soldiers have found the body of a second Israeli held hostage in Gaza near the Al-Shifa Hospital complex, the Israeli military said on Friday, as its forces continued to scour a facility they have said hosted a major Hamas base. Israeli authorities have not publicly presented much evidence that Hamas used the hospital for military purposes. The Israeli military said its troops had uncovered what it said was a Hamas tunnel shaft in one part of the expansive complex, but it was not clear where it led or how deep it was.Hamas and hospital officials have denied that the armed group operated from within the facility.
In an interview with CBS News that aired on Thursday night, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had intelligence indicating that Hamas had taken hostages from Israel to Al-Shifa, but that if they had been there, "they were taken out" before Israeli troops stormed the medical complex this week. "We had strong indications that they were held in the Shifa Hospital, which is one of the reasons we entered the hospital," Netanyahu said.
The military said that Israeli soldiers had recovered the bodies of two Israelis taken hostage - Yehudit Weiss, a mother of five from Kibbutz Be'eri, and Noa Marciano, a conscripted soldier - in locations adjacent to the hospital. But Israeli authorities have not announced the rescue of any living hostages from in or around Al-Shifa.
Netanyahu's comments came amid increasingly urgent questions around how Israel should prosecute its war against Hamas in light of the 240 hostages believed to be held by it and other armed Palestinian groups in Gaza. Israel and Hamas have held indirect negotiations, mostly mediated by Qatar, to release some of those abducted, but so far there have not been any public announcements of a breakthrough.
Hamas has released four hostages for "humanitarian reasons" - two American Israeli citizens and two older residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz. The rest, including dozens of foreign nationals, remain in captivity. In the interview with CBS, Netanyahu suggested Israel could agree to a temporary pause in hostilities "only if we have our hostages back." But some hard-line ministers have pushed for a more aggressive approach.