Hamas hands over another deceased hostage’s body to Israel via Red Cross, with seven bodies still in Gaza and 270 Palestinian bodies returned.
GAZA: Israel has received the body of another deceased hostage from Hamas via the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office confirmed the body would be transported to Israel for identification on Tuesday.
Hamas stated it located the remains in Shejaia, an eastern Gaza City suburb still occupied by Israeli forces.
Israel granted access to the location for Hamas and Red Cross teams to retrieve the body.
Under the October 10 ceasefire agreement, Hamas released all 20 living hostages held in Gaza.
In exchange, Israel freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian convicts and wartime detainees.
Hamas also committed to returning deceased hostages’ remains but cites Gaza’s war devastation as complicating recovery efforts.
Israel accuses Hamas of deliberately stalling the process.
Before Tuesday’s handover, Hamas had returned 20 of the 28 hostage bodies buried in Gaza.
Gaza health authorities confirmed Israel handed over 270 Palestinian bodies killed since the war began in October 2023.
Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in their October 7 cross-border attack on Israel.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed over 68,000 Palestinians according to health officials.
The US-brokered ceasefire has largely held despite repeated violent incidents.
Palestinian health authorities report Israeli forces have killed 239 people in strikes since the truce began.
Nearly half of those deaths occurred in a single day last week when Israel retaliated for a militant attack.
Israel says three soldiers have been killed during this period.
The military states it has targeted militants approaching areas behind withdrawn Israeli troop lines.
Earlier on Tuesday, Gaza health authorities reported Israeli fire killed a man in Jabalia in northern Gaza.
Israel’s military said it killed a “terrorist” who crossed into occupied areas and posed an imminent threat. – Reuters
