Israel now counts 138 hostages held by Gaza militants, authorities instructed AFP on Tuesday, after including to the listing one particular person beforehand thought of lacking since Hamas’s October 7 assaults.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace offered the up to date quantity however gave no particulars regarding the 138th confirmed hostage or how Israeli authorities had been in a position to confirm their standing.

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Previously, Israeli officers had mentioned 137 hostages had been nonetheless contained in the Gaza Strip and included 20 ladies and two kids.

Officials say some 240 folks — each Israelis and foreigners — had been kidnapped by Palestinian militants who stormed southern Israel on October 7, launching assaults that killed 1,200, principally civilians.

Israel has responded with an intense army marketing campaign geared toward eliminating Islamist group Hamas which controls Gaza, and since October 27 has despatched floor forces into the slender Palestinian enclave.

The devastating violence has killed practically 16,000 folks in Gaza, based on the Hamas-run well being ministry.

A seven-day truce which started in late November noticed 105 hostages launched from Gaza captivity, together with 80 who had been freed in change for 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Five hostages had been freed earlier than the truce, together with one rescued in an Israeli operation.