Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. (Screenshot from Prime Minister's Office footage.)
Following the IDF Spokesperson's announcement that the bodies of Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez had been extracted from Gaza last night, Prime Minister Netanyahu issued a statement of condolences today (Friday):
"Together with Israel, my wife Sarah and I bow our heads in deep sorrow, and embrace the mourning families in their difficult hour.
"We have a national and moral duty to do everything we can to return our hostages - living and fallen - and we are doing this.
"I praise the IDF forces and defense forces who operated with great courage in the heart of enemy territory to return them to their families and to a Jewish burial."