On Sunday, Israel Defense Forces announced they had recovered the bodies of three Israeli hostages murdered by Hamas who had been held since October 7, 2023.

“The bodies of SSGT Shay Levinson, Yonatan Samerano and Ofra Keidar, who were held hostage for 625 days in Gaza, have been recovered in a joint IDF and ISA military operation,” the IDF announced.

Bodies of 3 Deceased Hostages Recovered

The bodies of SSGT Shay Levinson, Yonatan Samerano and Ofra Keidar, who were held hostage for 625 days in Gaza, have been recovered in a joint IDF and ISA military operation.

May their memories be a blessing. pic.twitter.com/8FUo9XJwXo

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 22, 2025

Keidar, 71, from Kibbutz Be’eri, was mother of three and the wife of Shmuel Keidar, who was murdered by Hamas in their home, Israel National News reported. “Yonatan Samerano was brutally murdered and abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023, by Hamas terrorists, including a UNRWA employee, after fleeing the Nova music festival. Yonatan was 21 years old at the time of his death.”

Levinson, 19, was a tank commander in the “Oz” Battalion and was captured fighting Hamas terrorists on October 7.

 “Yesterday was Yonati’s Hebrew birthday,” Samerano’s father Kobi stated. “On his 23rd birthday, on the very day he was born, our Yonati was rescued in a heroic operation by the brave soldiers of the IDF and the Shin Bet. From the first moment, I believed with all my heart that our army would bring back my son. I never stopped believing, and that’s exactly what happened.”

“Our hearts are with the Keidar, Samerano, and Levinson families today,” the Hostages Families Forum stated. “Alongside the grief and pain, their return provides some comfort to the families who have waited in agony, uncertainty, and doubt for 625 days. We wish to express our deep gratitude to the IDF and security forces who acted with dedication and courage. The return of all the hostages is an essential condition for the process of national healing and recovery.”

“Particularly against the backdrop of current military developments and the significant achievements in Iran, we want to emphasize that bringing back the remaining 50 hostages is the key to achieving complete Israeli victory. There is a historic window of opportunity—the significant regional achievements enable Israel to end the war from a position of clear strength. The return of all hostages through a comprehensive deal—this is in Israel’s interest, this is the next stage, and this is the victory of this war. There will be no victory until the last hostage returns,” the forum added.

Iran “tried to play” President Donald Trump, which led to U.S. strikes on three of Tehran’s nuclear facilities this weekend,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday.

Rubio told anchor Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that Trump sent a letter months ago to Iran emphasizing how the regime would not be allowed to have nuclear weapons and that he wanted negotiations to achieve a peaceful resolution. But, he emphasized, that did not happen.

“They tried to play him along the way they’ve played every American president for the last 35 years and the president told them, ‘If we don’t get a deal’ — which is what we wanted — ‘then I’ll have to handle it differently.’ And that’s what he did last night. He handled it differently,” Rubio said. “But that was an Iranian choice. We didn’t make that choice. They did by playing games with Donald Trump, they made a huge mistake.”

Rubio declared that the world now is “safer” and “more stable” than it was 24 hours ago, prior to the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“And a bunch of these countries, putting out statements condemning us — privately, they all agree with us — that this needed to be done. They got to do what they got to do for their own public relations purposes, but the only people in the world that are unhappy about what happened in Iran last night is the regime,” Rubio said.

Rubio stressed that the United States has bases in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates to protect those countries from Iran and its terrorist network of proxy groups spread across the region.

“Why does Hezbollah exist? “Why does Hamas exist? Because of Iran. How do the Houthis exist? Because of Iran. Who built the IEDs that maimed and killed American soldiers in Iraq? Iran. They’re behind every problem in this region. They are the sole source of instability in the entire Middle East. And the world has been paying a price for this for 40 something years,” Rubio said.

“Imagine those people having a nuclear weapon,” he added. “Just one. Just one nuclear weapon. Or even the capability to — being on the threshold of having a nuclear weapon. That’s what the world was facing. That is unacceptable. President Trump did the world a favor last night.”